Half Of Heaven, Half Of Hell
by Tatsu No Kami
Summary: The NWC are more than used to the Chaos that abound in Nerima, being the origin of it many times. Now, a young girl with a secret heritage, hunted down by BOTH Heaven and Hell will come, to give chaos a whole new meaning. And to make things even more wier
1. Chapter 0 Authors Notes revised

**Half Of Heaven, Half Of Hell**

A Ranma Xover, with doses of OMG, SM and a helping of HP Lovecraft to season

**- Characters' Guide (Name and Description):**

**Hiko Akasei**

Daughter of Merianna and Akio Tendoko. Half-breed divine/human/demonic, has powers of both sides, being trained by their parents until their death in their use. Is incredibly beautiful, while being a powerful fighter and sorceress. Being hunted both by Heaven and Hell (Normal defenses of BOTH sides against the other DON'T work on her!) for either recruitment (voluntary or not) or elimination; has some few allies in both sides (though neither can be much open in their help). She's about 5'11", weighting 85 kg with a slim, athletic form and thin waist, which enhances a ballerina figure with a pair of full, firm pert breasts that seem to belong to an ancient Greek master's sculpture. Porcelain white skin gracing an oval face, in which a pair of big almond shaped crystal amethyst eyes look laughingly at life. Red pouty lips usually curved in a gentle smile. Slight curly waves of deep red, meshed with golden yellow, coppery red and light blonde cascading down to a bit below her behind, seemingly shrouding her in what seem to be a cloak of fire, with two lengthy silvery sideburns adding to the exoticness of her figure.

**Merianna**

Former Succubus' Princess (heir to the succubus kingdom in Nifleheim), fell in love with Akio instead of destroying/seducing him. Hunted down by Hell for her 'crime' of betrayal. She had fire engine red hair usually falling to her buttocks, enhancing her 6'1'' height and 85kg, all nicely distributed over an athletic trimmed body that supermodels would sell their souls for. Her eyes were deep red sienna, which tended to smile almost on their own (though when before entering combat their smile tended to put sharks to shame). Her physical age could not be assigned easily, but one would always guess about mid 30's.

**Akio Tendoko**

Former heir of the Tendoko ('Child of the way of heavens') family of devil-hunters. Have angel blood, granting them great minor divine powers. Fell in love with Merianna. Hunted down by clan for 'being seduced by darkness'. He was about 6'1'', 100kg of hard trained muscle. Akio's hair is dirty blonde/brown, falling to his shoulders in a shaggy stile, with light ash blue eyes. At the time of his death he's about 40, though he looked a decade younger.

**Osamu Tendoko**

Head of Tendoko clan. Half mad by now after all that he did hunting and killing his only son. Weighting about 90kg, over 5'8'', he is a grandmaster martial artist and though he's about 70, he actually looks like he's at most 40 and has a health and physical stamina of a man half his age.

**Alliara**

Current Succubus Queen, vassal to Nifleheim. Hunting down her granddaughter to make her her slave or kill her. Is trying to make a deal with the Elder Gods (Azatoth, Cthulu, Nyarlahothep, etc…) to release them in exchange for power. Need Hiko for that (the seal was created by Heaven AND Hell working together. Both kinds of power are necessary to break it.). Her hair is deep blue-black coming almost to the floor, making her seen taller than her 6'2'', with 90kg exquisitely distributed as if by an master sculptor. Her big eyes are a deep emerald green, and depending on her humor may light like stars or freeze like cold dead stones. She has light tan and is always dressed as if to seduce one (which is true, more often than not). Her physical age cannot be determinated by look only (Actually, she's very old).

**Denara**

Merianna's younger sister, now heir apparent. Is a plotter and careful planer, trying to keep the 'status quo' by subtly helping Hiko and blindsiding her mother's efforts while working to the rulers of Hell. She's 5'9'', about very nice sculpted 85kg, making her long, wild looking platinum blonde hair and her sea blue eyes, laughing pools capable of drowning men with a glance, a delightful trap none can resist. She dresses the barest minimum to keep the modesty while still being seductively suggestive, usually in translucent gauzes and flowing silks, always showing off her beautiful tan.

**Betzheren**:

Former Archangel of Chaos, expelled from Heaven for NOT taking sides during Lucifer's revolt and releasing Chaos upon Mankind. Dead some millennia now by his own hands. He was about 6'5", weighting about 100kg, with an athlete's muscle definition. His eyes wore golden brown and his hair and strawberry blonde, falling to between his shoulder blades. He also sported white feathered wings, even after being banished into Hell, unlike other fallen angels (but for Lucifer).

**Hild**:

Dai Makaichou, Ruler of Nifleheim, one of Hell's kingdoms. Hiko's great great-grandmother.

**Robert 'Bob' Nomura**:

'Nice' Tentacle demon, self-exiled in the Mortal Plane (Can't bring itself to rape women, either for pleasure or food.). Works as porn actor and model to get 'proper nutrition'. One of Hiko's best friends. He looks about 35, 6'3'', ruggedly handsome with short shaggy medium brown hair and hazel eyes. His physique is that of a man molded by outdoor life and hard work. He's usually serious looking, though after he's opened up he can and do make light talk and jokes. His true demon form is about 7'6'' tall, heavily muscled with golden brown fine scaled hide. He has a 'crown' of horns, sharp talons on his hands and feet and a tail spike. Also, alongside his spine, rows of tentacles burst forth, which he can use for many things (yeah, that too, hentais! -). Understandably, he is loathe to use such form on Midgard (earth), as it signs to EVERY devil hunter in the neighborhood his presence.

**Shiko**:

Elder of the Mshrrrann Clan (Cat Youkai). Has power over ice and usually is along her 3 brothers/pack mates (Kikuko of wind, Junko of fire and Ryuu of thunder (the only male)). Was befriended by Hiko's family during their travels. The clan now resides in a property that legally belongs to Hiko, but was given as a show of friendship for the, then, homeless clan. Have a debt of gratitude for that. Has been alive since the medieval era. She's 5'7", about 85 kg and well proportioned, though her habit of wearing kimonos or hakama doesn't let you noticed that at first. Has long snow white hair that falls to her mid thigh and greenish yellow eyes, that glow when she exited about something. Also, she has a white furred tail and cat ears, and retractable sharp claws in her hands and feet. Her weapon of choice is a double blade sword, which looks like a twisted spire of blue-white ice sporting a long triangular blade on each end.

**Ahmad Ib Al-Fahid I Fahid**

Meejhai high warrior ('The Mummy' mage-warrior clan), friend of Hiko's family. Appears after feeling her parents' demise. He's in his mid-thirties early forties, about 6'6", and 110kg, with a thin wiry built that belies the quickness and strength underneath. His dark black hair falls in ringlets to his shoulders, while he uses a thin moustache and chin beard. Has deeply tanned skin and black tribal tattoos right under each eye. Usually wears typical Bedouin clothing (that long toga like suit and turban).

**Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing**

Leader of the Sacred Order Of The Royal Knights, the organization HELLSING, secretly charged by the English crown to hunt and destroy hostile non-humans in UK territory. It seems very cold and determinate, to the point of fanaticism.

**Walter Kun Dollneaz**

Former Knight, is Sir Integra's butler/valet for years, since her father's passing. Is deadly fast and capable of manipulating razor-sharp strings as weapons. Is fiercely loyal to her.

**Alucard**:

An ancient true vampire, bond into servitude to the Hellsing family. Integra awoke him after a 20 year slumber and he now works as her 'secret weapon' against the supernatural. Mostly relishes the chance to find 'worthy opponents' to fight.

**Seres Victoria**

Ex-police, belonged to the former D-11 special unit, until all died in a vampire raid. Only survivor, got turned into a vampire by Alucard. Since then have been transferred to Hellsing, where is still coming to grips with her vampiric condition, sees her 'master' a bit like a father (although neither recognizes the fact).

**Alexander Anderson**

Paladin and Knight of the Holy Church. Works for the 13th Division of the Papal Secret Forces, an organization named ISCARIOT, whose mission is to 'cleanse the earth' (Inquisition, but much worse). Is a fanatical homicidal madman, capable of regenerating body parts. ANYTHING not human (or in his way to one) is liable to be killed without any remorse. Has a personal vendetta with Alucard.

**Enrico Maxwell**

Director General of Iscariot. Fanatical, hates Integra and her organization for 'siding with the enemy'.

**- Martial Art Attacks (Name (with translation) and description):**

Some of them are based on attacks I read on other fics, so I'm just borrowing them! Others I made myself. Feel free to use them! Oh, by the way: the techniques here are NOT only Hiko's! During the story you'll see others using them, even if under a different name sometimes…

**Hadouken ****(Power blast/surge)**

– A Ki attack like Ranma's Moko Takabisha. Only that it uses pure ki to be done, looking like a sphere of bright light.

**Kakyoku No Kaze ****(Wind Song)**

– A speeding technique, which make one extremely hard to take by enhancing reflexes and accelerating overall body speed. A full body Amaguriken.

**Kaze Kiru ****(Wind Slash)**

– A double use technique (it can be used barehanded or armed). It cuts its opponents from afar with a slashing motion of their hands or weapons (not TOO far, at max one must be at 15/20 meters for it to be capable of actually delivering any real damage.). In some ways, resemble the kind of damage Ranma does with the Neko-ken or the Saotome Secret Techniques.

**Kage Muchi ****(Shadow Whip)**

– A technique similar to the Kijin Raishuu Dan. It creates an invisible 'whip' of vacuum, able to cut through 3 ft of stone at 30 yards. It's a deadly tech.

**Gufuu Tate ****(Hurricane Shield)**

– A defensive mobile ki technique, it summons a hurricane-like wind, heavily charged with chi, that spins around the user, deflecting any missile that comes his/her way, even other chi attacks (albeit with more difficult). Hand-to-hand and armed attacks have more difficult hitting then as well. Since it takes a lot, it cannot be kept up for a long time. If combined with the Soul Of Ice, might disrupt a Hiryuu Shouten Ha from within.

**Hyouga No Tate ****(Ice Shield)**

– A defensive passive ki technique. It summons upon a chi formation that look like a block of shimmering blue ice in front of/around the user. If hit with 'hot' chi (like Ranma's Moko Takabisha and Ryoga's Shishi Hokodan) it might blows up, hurting everybody around with the 'shards' (minus the user, who'll be at ground zero). (Ryoga's Bakusai Tenketsu can probably break through it, but it'll ALSO hurt EVERYBODY as it explodes the shield everywhere!)

**Seirei Tate ****(Spirit Shield/Star Spirit Shield)**

– Basically, a force field made out of pure ki. Less used because of the demands on concentration. But very powerful. It can stop virtually **anything** from coming through, but the effort is comparable to the energy breaking it. So, while it is possible to even stop a point blank .50 bullet, the effort would collapse the shield right after it, as the user would be exhausted to unconsciousness from it.

**Tenka Atsuryokuha ****(Lightning Fire Pressure Wave)**

– A distant Ki attack. The user send a charged punch or kick, delivering a rapid moving 'blade' of chi/static electricity. A truly focused attack can split a concrete block 6" thick at 20 meters or shock an athlete into unconsciousness. Enough training can make the 'blade' blunt so not to be a killing strike.

**Ashige An'ei ****(Shadow Kick)**

– Basically, a thousand kicks (or so close to it as to not make a difference) delivered so fast that they blur into a single one (a kicking version of the Amaguriken, so to speak). (It may look like but it's NOT Johnny Blaze's Shadow Kick!).

**Megami No Kyoukaiiki ****(Limit Goddess)**

– It's a suicide move, destroying the user's life to power a single blast capable of leveling the top of Mt. Fuji if used. Only women can use such move and ONLY in defense of her loved ones, since it's the ultimate sacrifice a lover/mother/sister can do: offer her own life so that her loved ones may survive. For an instant, the warrioress glows like a star, then generating a blast that levels **EVERYTHING** in its path. She dies, her body crumbling to dust as the blast's end.

**Seigi Tsunami ****(Righteous Tidal Wave)**

- A bolt of pure blue ki lashes out, expanding into a wall of energy that slams into the target(s), sending it (them) flying everywhere.

**Kibara No Toge Arashi ****(Yellow Rose Thorn Storm)**

– A volley of ki balls, each the size of a baseball, sprayed like a machine-gun volley. Can be concentrated on one target or split among many.

**Fuyu Taki ****(Winter Waterfall)**

– It condenses air humidity, creating a jet of freezing cold water, which is enough to encase a person in an iron hard sheet of ice.

**Hibashiri ****(The Running Fire)**

– A ki/magic coupled attack. One calls upon the fire spirits to attack his enemies. Fire trails blaze from the user's hand searching for the opponents and burning them.

**Kaze Keitaku ****(Wind's Blessing)**

– It allows a person to fly by using earth's Ki flows. Unlike Herb's tech, it does NOT use too much ki, requiring only proper training for its use. (Looks like Dragon Ball flight tech.)

**Seijun Tatsu Atemi ****(Purity Dragon Strike)**

– It's a technique that combines ki and magic with applications with the Devil Hunter sects of the Amazons. According to the technique, a person can purify a possessed person, or eliminate a being of evil. No matter how strong a hold the entity had on a human soul, the attack would wrench it from its host, freeing the human and destroying the entity. It's an incredibly powerful technique, demanding an enormous effort from the warrior to perform, leaving him/her severely drained after.

**Tsubasa Aikuchi ****(Wing Dagger)**

– A Phoenix Tribe tech. The warrior spreads his wings wide, then brings them forward, using its feathers as 'molds', to launch hundreds of small feather like chi daggers that cut and perforate their target(s). It can be used against one or many, and the daggers' lethality can be lessened to be badly hurting though not life threatening. Hiko adapted this for his wings.

**Zan Gan Ken, Ni-no-Tachi ****(Stone Breaking Sword, ****Second Cut)**

– An advanced chi technique, it allows a warrior to focus 'cutting power' on a blade and split like a hot knife on butter. Also allows to cut through something or someone without hurting what or who it's in front, only what's behind. It has great power against evil spirits or creatures.

**Senpuu Ken ****(Whirlwind Blade)**

– A combination tech, it creates an 'envelope' of vacuum around a blade or thrown object, making it deadly sharp and all but unstoppable.

**Niryuu Totsu Ha ****(Two Lunging Dragon Strike)**

– A two person tech with effects similar to the Hiryuu Shouten Ha; two people begin to cycle their auras between hot and cold, eventually creating a spinning vortex similar to the chi typhoon of the Shouten Ha. Its less demanding on each and easier to create since does not depend on an enemy's aura, but both warriors have to synchronize well to succeed.

**Bujin No Jutsu ****(Replication Technique)**

– It creates many chi replicas of the warrior, which can confuse the enemy(ies). The replicas are like low-level automatons, being capable of mid-level fight (armed only if the user had weapons on his hands before using the technique). The replicas can punch, kick and defend themselves to a point, but are no better than the usual grunt, serving more as a diversion.

**Ma Ti Pon Chuan ****(Horse's Kick Fist)**

– A Chinese Wu Shu technique, it fills the users' fists with chi, allowing them to create a shockwave when punching. The wave can knock down an adult bear from 20 yards and shatter 5in concrete at 10. A well trained user can focus the force to be non-lethal.

**- Magic spells:**

If you ever saw 'Slayers', 'Silent Möbius', and similar, you'll most certainly recognize some of the spells I'll be using here. That's all I've got to say about it.


	2. Chapter 1 Endgame or is it?

Standard Disclaimer: Hey People, I DO NOT OWN THESE GUYS! Ranma ½ belongs to Takahashi Rumiko-sama (Yes, I DO think she disserves the title!). Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko-san and Oh! My Goddess! belongs to Kosuke Fujishima. All the others occasionally used her belongs to their respective owners. What doesn't belong to them it's mine so I DO have permission to use them. I'm broke, so, it's no use to sue me. There, it's said!  
One thing: Please bear with me guys, I'm just trying to put out some ideas I have about the Nerima gang and add a little 'spice' to stir things up, since I'm not that good at making humor. Hope you people like it.  
Once again, from the top: beyond my characters, I claim **ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHTS** to any of the characters used here, beyond their use in this story. C&C very appreciated. Flames will, of course, be laughed upon and deleted.

- A brief review on syntax -

— Cursed forms of characters will be labeled by suffix: -chan for a person's cursed female form (except of course for P-chan), and animal suffix for non-human forms. Example: Genma-panda or Genma-p, Shampoo-cat or Shampoo-c.

— ... are other languages than Japanese. (Yes, unless defined otherwise, people are talking Japanese! After all, that's what they are. -!)

— ... are sound effects. Example: burp or ping. Such sound effects also include animal sounds, such as Bukii! for P-chan and Quack! for Mousse-duck.

—** Arial **are Genma-panda's signs.

—_ 'Italics'_ are thoughts. Thoughts are in thought pattern. (i.e., without ANY need for translation!)

— **# Arial Narrow #** are telepathic communication.

— … are telephone or radio communication.

Credits:

First of all, I would like to thank Takahashi Rumiko-sama, for creating the wonderful and wacky world of Ranma ½.  
Also, I'd like to send my best regards to Phil Hacker, whose syntax review I unshamelessly took (a little modified) to use in my fic. It's a very good one, to say the least, hope you don't want my guts for it. By the way, I'd loved your fic ("Foreign Influences"), gave me a lot to think about. Also, I'd like to thank a very good pal of mine, Sandro 'Herald'. Thanks a lot, your encouragement and C&C at the reactions of the people were indispensable! And, last but NEVER least, to K'thardin, who gave me not only many ideas, but also the encouragement to begin writing at first place and had the patience to C&C me and point out flaws and suggest better trails for my stories to roll.  
Usually at the end of the chapters there'll be a note, explaining a few of the unusual terms and whatsoever.  
If you're wandering at when does that all happens, after thinking REALLY hard about it (since I've not read all the manga series, although I HAVE read the synopses, and saw some of the Ova's, besides being a compulsive collector of Ranma fanfiction...) I decided to put like this:

**·** Ranma ½: right after the end of the manga series, about the start of Ranma and Akane's middle year of high school. So, the gang is now about 17, with Nabiki and Kuno with 18 and Kasumi with 21.  
**·** OMG: Right after the movie. (I'm also using some manga elements too.)  
**·** SM: After the end of the Galaxia cycle (So they are all at their 'Eternal' level).

Unless specified otherwise, the background music are the usual Ranma OAV themes.

**"Remember; it is the journey which enlighten us; not the destination."  
**Khuai Chang Kane; Kung Fu, The Legend Continues.

* * *

**Half Of Heaven, Half Of Hell**  
A Ranma Xover, with doses of OMG, SM and a helping of HP Lovecraft to season  
by Tatsu No Kami

Prologue– Endgame (Or Is It?) 

_China, Quing Hai province, Bayankala mountain range; about 2 miles north of the Valley of Jusenkyo… _

They would not leave alive this time. Both the elders knew that. Her child, though, still kept a small spark of hope of deceiving their pursuers once again. They had done it uncountable times through those years… why not this once, right?

Unfortunately, they knew better. Both were still smarting from the last ambush from the demons, cuts and bruises still too fresh and bleeding, their reserves of power all but gone. Their child didn't have yet neither the needed reserves (hers also all but gone) nor the control to be of true help in the situation they were. And now, before they could reach sanctuary with Athena's followers, the others had fell upon them, magic, ki and iron blazing. They might hold them off for a little while, but would not be able to get away. At least, they had managed to draw them away from their true intended destination, fleeing through the mountain range, attracting them in their pursuit. Now, in this little closed gully amidst the Himalayan valleys, the final act of their little play would happen.

Like a school of sharks on scented blood, they fell upon them.

And the final battle began.

_About two hours later…_

The couple had began to really loose. Bit by bit. Inch by inch, they were being pushed back. Wound heaping upon wound, energy reserves dwindling to nothing, as the enemies' waves kept them from recovering any.

They could not fall. Not yet! Their treasure weren't safe yet! There just HAD to be a way…

Over a sudden lull on the fight, the couple watched each other's eyes, communicating wordlessly. Any price were worth, if it kept their little treasure safe. A decision was reached.

Turning from their enemies, they pooled their flagging power to erect a shield. Not enough to stop them, but it would by them the precious moments they needed.

While them men kept watch, on the off chance their barrier got breached prematurely, the woman raised his sword, then dipped it, slowly tracing a circle, rune after rune, trace after trace, sometimes letting a drop or two of her blood fall on the lines, slowly but surely powering the circle of mystical symbols. Her mate occasionally did the same, shedding a drop or two of blood to add extra energy as well as jam any attempt to screen them out by mingling their power.

All the while, her daughter watched, worry and pride fighting in her young face, also marred by sooth, blood and dust. She had being fighting just as heavy as her parent's.

Finally, the circle shone, complete. The young girl recognized it. It was one of her mom's specialties: A warded teleportation gate. It would send them away from their hunters and cloak their trail so it could NOT be followed or divined.

The woman turned to her, sadness dimming her great beauty. They ALWAYS send her first. Getting closer, she whispered to her softly, her voice musical: "**May the currents guide you and the wind be ever at your back, guiding you home to harbor. I sail into the setting sun, bidding you farewell, until we meet again beyond the sea or on it."** The unearthly beautiful woman hugged her daughter close, not making any effort to hide her tears. "Now go, my little fire brand, go and hide. We'll meet you when's safe…" she managed to croak while planting a last kiss on her brown.

The teen smiled and entered the magic circle, after giving her father a hug just as tight as the one shared with her mother. Her father didn't boder with words; he wasn't much of a talker anyway. But the proud smile and tear tracks on his face spoke louder than anything. "Bye, Mom, Dad. Don't lock the door before I get home! I'll be waiting!" she joked, trying to keep their spirits up. Her tears though, marred some the effect. The circle flared with the combined energies of her and her mate, providing not only energy for the transport but a chaotic signature that would make impossible for any to track her. Her daughter, her little treasure's figure shimmered and was gone, totally unaware that her mother had made her goodbye with the traditional farewell used by the people of a ancient sea-faring tribe, now long extinct, when they expected to die before they met again. Only later would her truly understand the final farewell she had been given.

As the magic circle powered down, it turned to dust, washed away by a gust of wind, leaving nothing of what it was behind. The parents looked on a bit relieved, for now their daughter would be safer. The woman turned to her mate, tears falling down her exquisite face. "Do you think she be ok love?"

The man, a handsome dark haired warrior, held her tight to himself. "We gave her the best of ourselves, love. She'll live. That's all that matters." He replied, tears marring his face as well. He knew that he wanted to see her child grow, even eventually find someone who could love her for her, just like him and his mate. But he also knew that their lives were forfeit for her to have that chance. If he at any time of his life with her had any doubt whatsoever of her capacity for true love, it had been erased by that sacrifice. And by the fact that he felt her powering up. Not only an attack, but one he knew only love could power. The Megami No Kyoukaiiki. The Ultimate power ONLY a loving woman could call upon. The power of life to protect life. He could not be able to summon the Megami, but he would NOT let her mate do it alone!

The attacking group, sensing the faltering in their prey, approached, seeking blood. They had enough time to see a glowing woman of unearthly beauty, holding into a handsome man, also alight with power.

Then the two disappeared within the glows, as they mixed and became one pure orb of light.

And everything went white.

* * *

_Somewhere in Japan, almost at the same time… _

In the training hall of the house her parents bought some time ago as one of the many hideouts around the world for them, the girl waited, all but chewing her nails off of worry. _Why in the seven hell's did they closed the gate! Where they surprised or something?_ She thought worriedly to herself.

Them it hit her.

Knowledge.

Feelings.

Memories.

Power.

Two lifetimes worth of it. Her mother and father's.

All that they had been.

All that they where.

All that they could have been.

EVERYTHING.

The sum of her parent's memories, skills, feelings… All hit her with the impact of a runaway train, like a drowning tsunami, fully overwhelming her and any capability she could have of dealing with it.

And more seemed to be coming.

Finally, she let out the only way she could.

The whole ward shook with the power contained in that howl. Pain, sorrow and anger in god like proportions shone through it. Many did not slept again that night, after hearing that sound that seemed to come from all sides, splitting the night in twain. Strangely enough, one of the only places people did NOT get THAT spooked about it was right beside her house. Her backyard neighbor actually. But considering it was the (in)famous 'Tendo Dojo' of Nerima, one could understand it.

As for her, she passed out in the middle of the dojo, to wake only three days later. And when she did, she would cry for almost as long before raising to eat, clean up and try to make some sense of where to go from there.

But that was still on the future.

* * *

_Back in China, at the Nyu-Che-Zuu main village… _

Miz Tsu looked to the south, where the sky lit with the column of power just a moment ago, its brightness chasing the night away. Her ki senses recognized the technique and its significance. It seemed that they did not made it to them, choosing instead to draw their pursuers away from them. Acted like true warriors to the end.

The elder also smiled. She had met Akio and Merianna before and the pair had earned her trust over the years. Now, even those who still had some doubts about her would have to give in. Only one kind of soul could pull out the Megami: a woman's soul, and only in defense of her loved ones.

For the price the Megami demanded was the warrioress' life. It was the ultimate sacrifice a woman could do: to offer her life for those she loved. If THAT didn't quelled the other elder's suspicions, SHE would uphold her late friend's honor. She was also curious, as it seemed that AKIO had somehow added his strength to the blast! _Those two must really have been soul mates for that to be possible…_she thought morosely to herself. _But where is the child?_ Was her last thought before entering the council hall to address the others.

She had NOT felt their daughter's Ki in the blast. And she doubted VERY much they would have allowed her to perish like that. Yes, the child was alive, somewhere. And it was their duty, as friends and Athena's chosen, to find and help her.

* * *

_China, on the border of the crater that previously was a little valley…_

Practically all of the hunting team where killed in the blast.

Practically.

A small group held back on their master's orders. Those where the only survivors. And even then didn't escaped unscathed, for many presented cuts, bruises and burns from the explosion.

Their leader, an elderly but still vital looking man of fifty something, looked angrily at the smoking crater.

Someway, **somehow**, his prey had escaped! The couple where of minor importance, save for pressure purposes.

The child.

SHE was the real prize!

And if she had to tear down this pitiful little plane to get her, SO BE IT!

Inside the mind of her little meat puppet, the demoness raged while deriving some small pleasure from the whimpers of the imprisoned soul. It wasn't every day that she could enjoy the suffering of a parent killing his on children.

A few of the survivors of the Tendoko clan hunting team wondered why they master and clan head, while chewing their heads off for failing to bring all of their escapees back seemed to be also crying.

Probably some of the smoke and dust.

It MOST certainly wasn't about the betrayer. Even if he once were the master's son. Once one was lost - willing, for all the evidence gathered – to the Dark, death was the only way out to give to lost soul some final peace.

Little did they know.

* * *

**· Megami No Kyoukaiiki  
(Limit Goddess)** – It's a suicide move, destroying the user's life-force to power a single blast capable of leveling the top of Mt. Fuji if used. Only women can use such move and ONLY in defense of her loved ones, since it's the ultimate sacrifice a lover/mother/sister can do: offer her own life so that her loved ones may survive. For an instant, the warrioress glows like a star, then generating a blast that levels EVERYTHING in its path. She dies, her body crumbling to dust as the blast's end.


	3. Chapter 2 Blowing Winds

Standard Disclaimer: Hey People, I DO NOT OWN THESE GUYS! Ranma ½ belongs to Takahashi Rumiko-sama (Yes, I DO think she disserves the title!). Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko-san and Oh! My Goddess! belongs to Kosuke Fujishima. All the others occasionally used her belongs to their respective owners. What doesn't belong to them it's mine so I DO have permission to use them. I'm broke, so, it's no use to sue me. There, it's said!  
One thing: Please bear with me guys, I'm just trying to put out some ideas I have about the Nerima gang and add a little 'spice' to stir things up, since I'm not that good at making humor. Hope you people like it.  
Once again, from the top: beyond my characters, I claim **ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHTS** to any of the characters used here, beyond their use in this story. C&C very appreciated. Flames will, of course, be laughed upon and deleted.

**"Remember; it is the journey which enlighten us; not the destination."  
**Khuai Chang Kane; Kung Fu, The Legend Continues.

* * *

**Half Of Heaven, Half Of Hell**  
A Ranma Xover, with doses of OMG, SM and a helping of HP Lovecraft to season  
by Tatsu No Kami

Chater 01 – Before Any Storm, There's Always Wind Blowing 

AN: Two months have passed since the events of the prologue.

_Hikawa Shrine, Juuban Ward of Tokyo, the last Sunday afternoon just before the school year starts…_

As they had been doing, ever since the end of that dreadful Galaxia business, the Senshi gathered at Rei's. Through all the sorrow, hardship, laughter and the occasional shopping trip they went together, the group had forged a friendship tougher than steel. They were family, regardless of their names, and came to relish the chance to enjoy each other's company.

Of course, lots of changes, of both profound and mundane nature, had also came to all of them as well. There were no more Outers and Inners for starters. Or endings. Not after their Princess, backed by the full power of the Ginzuishou told them (Setsuna included) that such inside fighting, snobbishness and separation would NOT be tolerated anymore. Never, EVER again. The sight of Usagi, floating in the air with her eyes glowing brightly as she speared them with her look, bedecked in her full Moon Princess regalia were enough to convince even the Time Guardian that she well and truly meant business.

After that, things eventually came together, give it or take a few 'mock' fights between Usagi and Rei (which still happened once or so, to the delight of everyone, who knew it was more pro-forma than actual anything). She even had a talk with Mamoru. A REAL one, not her usual whining fits. Which came to show all of them that their Princess had finally grow up. Neo-queen Serenity had begun to show at last. Woe betide them… And after that, their relationship FINALLY seemed to be going the right way.

They were talking between themselves, enjoying the days' gossip and each other's company when the appearance of Sailor Pluto, fully suited, told them this was not a usual social call.

"Don't tell me…" Usagi said annoyed. "Another threat to Crystal Tokyo has appeared." She groused from her boyfriend's arms. Mamoru looked worried at Setsuna. The Time Guardian weren't one to drop by like that for nothing.

"I… sincerely wish it was that simple…" was Setsuna's tired answer.

THAT caught their attention. As well as that Setsuna seemed to not have had any sleep in some time, if her somewhat disheveled hair, dark bags under her eyes and general air of exhaustion where. The Time Guardian hardly ever allowed herself to show ANYTHING but perfection. Whatever worried her must be dire indeed.

"What's up?" asked Haruka. After all that she and Michiru did, she was eager to redeem herself before her teammates (Specially their 'daughter' Hotaru. She still had nightmares of the look of betrayal in her face when they killed her…) and Princess. The recent occasional demons had been too minor to really be of use to show that they'd truly meant it when they said them wanted to be a part of the team now.

"A… young woman is coming to hide in Nerima. On her tail (_Quite LITERALLY, so it seems… _she thought briefly to herself, grinning internally.), Chaos and Darkness, of the likes we had never saw before are following. She is innocent of it, but her blood made her a target of too many. Her life, so far, have been a long wandering all over the globe, from one hideout to another. Events started by her coming may help us build Crystal Tokyo, not only faster, but even better than we expected. Or start a chain of events that may well destroy this planet and much more…" she somberly said.

"But is she an ally or an enemy?" asked Makoto, Haruka seconding the notion. The two more belligerent of the whole Senshi were already in battle analysis mode, evaluating all and any piece of info that might provide a possible threat for their Sovereign. Ami just looked a bit annoyed at her chestnut haired friend's belligerence, even if she had gotten used to the fighting attitude of one of her best friends within the senshi. Just to be on the safe side, she had her computer already in record mode and searching for any scrap of info that could be useful.

"If we can befriend her, a very important ally. I've seen some of her story. She's actually a nice, amenable person, but because of what she'd been through, if pushed too far she can be very, very ruthless. Even a bit cruel, specially in battle." Replied Setsuna. "Whatever you do, DO NOT provoke her into a fight. She's not above killing in fight, and THAT would doom us all." She warned very seriously.

"Well, I think we should approach her carefully then." Spoke Usagi. "From what you said it seems that she's quite lonely. Maybe a friendly, open approach may keep things peaceful…" she wondered. "And girls," she spoke seriously to the other senshi. "ABSOLUTELY NO spying on her until we can make a friendly contact." She finished looking at them, the Neo-queen Serenity attitude coming forth. "Setsuna, can you tell us anything else that can help?" she asked.

"Truly, I don't know much…" was the answer. "I could not see a lot of her life. Something… blocked my sight from the Gates. Many of her life, both past and future, is closed to me." The time guardian spoke, clearly upset. The worry in her face was clear to all.

"But… what could block the Time Gates!" asked surprised and worried Rei. The others nodded and murmured their agreement to the question. What could be powerful enough to stop Setsuna and the seemingly all powerful Time Gates?

"You guys have to remember, I'm NOT the Gates creator, but it's guardian. To my knowledge, only two kind of beings, including the creators of the Time Gate, are powerful enough to block it like what I have seen…" she replied. "and it worries me a lot which may have had an hand in that." _Specially since it actually seems BOTH kinds are involved…_ she thought, although keeping it to herself. She'd rather not worry their teammates unnecessarily, though if her worries proved true they would have to be warned.

"And those are?" asked Ami.

"Some of the greater Gods and Hell Lords."

* * *

_Another temple, Near Nekomi, the same day, practically at the same time…_

"Are you really sure of it, Ama-chan?" asked Urd in front of the screen. To anyone looking, she would seen to be slightly hunched over a pair of translucent panels of smoky gray light; a smaller rectangular one inclined in her direction, where she seemed to be taping something, bright squares of light appearing where her fingers touched it, and a bigger one, about the size and form of a 21" monitor right in front her face. On it, the face of a beautiful woman, dressed in the traditional manner of the Japanese nobility showed a lot of distress. Of truly note would be her eyes. Instead of normal looking ones, her eyes where rings of fire and light.

Amaterasu Omikami sighted saddened. "Yes Urd-chan, I'm sure. The couple died. As a matter of fact, I have both under my direct protection right now, being processed. Athena is providing some extra security and Demeter, even if still is somewhat fence sitting, promised to run some interference. She said she wanted 'the poor dear to have a chance for a fair hearing' or something to that effect. Bast is talking with her just as we speak. It seems 'cat-chan' has got a really soft spot for them after they helped some youkai clan…" she spoke smiling ruefully to the Norn. "Also Aphrodite seems to sound like a broken record with her incessant 'I told you so'…" She replied, mildly annoyed. "As for the girl, we're sure she survived, and is somewhere in the Tokyo area. Her mother managed to erect a truly good misplacement spell around her escapade. It seems that she combined it with some Ki techs and Tendoko helped in both regards, magical and martial."

"Thank the All Father for small favors..." Urd spoke. "At least, it will give her some time until we can make our move. Have you got any luck with the petition?"

The downcast face of the sun goddess was all the answer she needed. "No, Michael and a few others are making their damnest to slow it as much as they can. When it finally reaches Kami-sama I'm afraid it'll be too late…"

"Well… Skuld had done some digging in the database of Yggdrasil, and found some VERY strange things." Urd said, a bit embarrassed. "It seems," she continued. "that everything related to Hiko, including her personal files are locked into a really big file denominated 'ChaosBringer'. What really spook me AND Skuld was that simply the name and links to it were under level FOUR security locks! It took Skuld HOURS of work just to find their existence, not to mention to be able to look at it! And the file itself, is under level FIVE!" she said, clearly impressed.

That made Amaterasu's eyebrow shot up. Only the MOST sensitive files EVER got this level of security! Kami-sama's personal files where one of them. She doubted Skuld could break even a level four, least of all a level five security lock, as both were created by Kami-sama himself. The young goddess must have been awfully lucky... Or maybe the All-Father was trying to help them in some roundabout way. "Have she been able to get anything else?" she prodded, intrigued.

"Only two less watched links to other files, but she was almost got and the files were encrypted WAY down under and the links terminated." The Norn of the Past replied.

"Which files?" asked the sun goddess.

"That is what got us worried." Replied Urd, very sober. "One was MICHEAL'S file! I think he may have more interest in that situation than he's letting on. A **personal** interest. But the other…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

"What about the other, Urd dear?" replied Amaterasu.

"That's the problem. It was a personnel file, but of someone I don't remember knowing. And I know ALL personnel files from the system! I wrote them myself!" she spat, worried and angry.

A very strange sensation ran trough the sun goddess spine. A chill unlike any she had ever felt in millennia. One of the last times she had felt something like it was just before that whole deal with Susano-oh and the cave. Whatever it was, it did NOT bode well. "What was the name on the file Urd-chan? Maybe I can ask around…" she asked, still trying to come to grips with the worry.

Urd sighted. As she was at the moment banned from Heaven's thanks to her latest stunt, she had to rely on others for things like that. "Ok. The name on the file was 'Betzheren'. It seemed to belong to an archangel…" she trailed off when she saw Amaterasu suddenly get ramrod stiff.

Pale as a sheet, the sun goddess suddenly stood. "I'm terminating this con-link now Urd." She spoke in clipped tones. "I just remembered I have some very important things to do at the office, I'm afraid. Maybe we can talk later." She spoke stiffly.

Urd was completely baffled by her friends curt attitude. "Ama-chan? What-"

"Oh, and tell Bell that I, Athena and Bast have decided to accept her invitation for dinner. We should appear about 7 pm, your time, this afternoon. Bye now."

Urd just stood there looking at the suddenly blank screen, the words ' **link terminated** ' blinking ominously at her. Something told her that whatever they had uncovered, was too danm hot to talk about in an open link. Who was this Betzheren and what was his connection with Michael and all this? She had the distinct impression that this dinner would be very interesting…

* * *

_Furinkan High, early morning of the next day, Vice-Principal office…_

"So I assume that's everything is ok, Tanaka-dono?" asked the young woman.

"Indeed, Akasei-san. All documentation have been properly filed." The man replied. "Since you came to us, I suppose you're aware of Principal Kuno's… idiosyncrasies?" he asked.

"I do. And I'm more than capable of… **protecting** my personal space from anyone if need be." Was the cool reply. "I just hope the local police doesn't mind managing mangled offenders…" was the soft whisper that brought shivers to the Vice-principal's spine.

That young lady was very beautiful, brightly sociable, and a genius level student, but there was an icy ruthlessness hidden within the sugar and spice that told him that should she chose to, she could be one really cool customer. The kind that pulls the trigger without a second thought or remorse while staring them in the eye. Privately, as he rose to guide her to homeroom, he wondered what she had been through to become that way. Only the passing of her parents seemed too mild.

Watching the pair pass through her office on their way to class, the new school counselor absently toyed with the files on her hand. _I really hope we can get to her… _Setsuna thought to herself. _She seems a good kid after all…even if I could feel the menace from those last words all the way down to the gates... _She grimaced to herself. _It seems my observations where right on the money. I must remember to warn the senshi NEVER to antagonize her out of the blue; it could be VERY bad for us all… _Sighing softly to herself, the oldest senshi thought ruefully: _Now, HOW will be able to div my time between here and Juuban? _

* * *

_Moments later, at Ranma's class homeroom…_

Ranma was looking at the window as the teacher started to speak about this year's row of subjects. Even if he didn't show, he already knew some about them. One of the things he had taken to heart some time ago was when one of the teacher's spoke about how 'Knowledge Is Power'. After thinking a lot about it he had to admit to himself that his knowledge was not only smaller than it should be, but wrong. He had been purposefully deceived (mostly by Oyaji). It was slow paying but he WAS correcting this. But now he had more important things to think about. Namely, the fallout of their return from Mt. Phoenix and the failed wedding…

The Amazons, thank Kami-sama, after knowing about his battle and winning against Saffron, nullified both the 'Kiss of Death' and the 'Kiss of Marriage'. They would rather have him as a friend and ally than angering him into their enmity. Shampoo's honor was preserved, somewhat, so she could return home without problems. Unfortunately, they decided to stay. Cologne now was trying to entice him into alliance with the Nyu-Che-Zuu by offering to train him into other secret techniques, with the proviso that, should the need arise, he would help them. He was a bit uncertain still, but she looked on the level this time. Shampoo, on the other hand, may not have to try and get him by any means necessary, but she was free to try to win him like any other girl, which she was doing. Trying, anyway. Amazons did NOT know the word 'subtlety'. Thankfully, Mousse knew he didn't want anything to do with her, but oftentimes his temper would get the best of him and he would try and attack him. Unless he got some steam to blow off, he usually fought duck-boy on his level, just for the hell of it.

Ukyo was still enduring something of a 'cold shower' after her actions. It seemed slow going, but he had hope of finally entering her thick head he ONLY thought of her as a friend, nothing more. Besides, he believed Konatsu would be much better for her, provided the male kunoichi got a bit more of backbone. He was trying to help him in that, though.

Ryoga was much better; that with his blooming relationship with Akari. But the fact that he still hadn't told Akane about 'P-chan' remained a sore point between the two of them. They still fought each other every chance they got, but nowadays were more of two martial artists honing each other's skills than the petty rivalry it used to be. Not that they got too sappy or anything but was better nevertheless. Unless, of course, that pig boy got depressed and/or misinterpreted something (which was STILL fairly often), in which case an all out brawl would go, until things got straightened up.

The resident loons, a.k.a. the Kunos, remained exactly the same. Bashing Tatewaki or dogging Kodachi's traps and poisons was becoming almost automatic by now. Boring.

Nabiki, surprisingly, had stopped a lot of her 'operations' regarding him (Him only. Others were still something of a fair game, although she seemed to have toned it down some too.). When she had some opportunity, she had started to actually come to him and ask! Would wonders cease? When asked, she replied that after all that chaos, she would rather have him on her side freely. Besides, she was still paying the damages both to the dojo and his mother's house her meddling caused. Especially after Nodoka pointed out (with her katana at her neck. Momma was truly upset that day…) that either she redeemed her honor before her and her sister's families by making proper amendments or she would be very honored to be her kaishaku. A bone white Nabiki hastily agreed to her terms. He found out, to his surprise, that the middle Tendo could be an interesting, and amazingly, a trustworthy partner. Their modeling works where raking in a good money for both. Even if he (and sometimes she) got a bit embarrassed by the get-ups he got to wear.

Kasumi was pretty much the same… no. Even she had changed a bit. She was not into her oblivious act so much anymore, helping him out a bit more and being generally more assertive of herself before her family.

Oyaji and Tendo… still two single-minded obsessive bakas. It seemed impossible for them to actually learn anything from all that happened. Occasional Panda beatings seemed to keep Oyaji more or less subdued, and Nabiki and Kasumi kept running interference with Tendo. Nevertheless he just KNEW something, anything were due one of this days. They had been TOO quiet to his comfort.

Momma on the other hand, seemed to have toned down some her 'manly' mania, becoming more accepting of his dual nature. It gave him a badly needed space to help sort things out, and he couldn't love her more for it. Now the problem seemed to be how to keep her from trying to make 'her' a 'woman among women', whatever the hell that supposed to mean on her head…

As for Akane… oh, boy...

They still danced around each other, even if now it was more something of defining how to admit to the other how they felt and how to go from there. He could REALLY live without the mallet, though. Also, the fact that she KNEW about the Nyanniichuan and didn't tell still left some bitterness on his mouth. Of all the 'fiancées' he really though her better than that…

His musings were cut short, though, when a soft knock on the door was heard, followed by the Vice-Principal, Mr. Tanaka, entering. A chill, worse than what he got before that whole danm Saffron business happened traveled down his spine. Something… MAJOR was about to happen. He turned his attention back to the speaking teacher… "Children, I'd like to introduce to you an new student. She'll be joining Furinkan this year." Turning to the open door he asked: "You can come in now, young lady."

And a _vision _entered in, silencing the room with its mere presence. She was about an inch taller than Ranma's male form (making her about 5' 11"), and was decked in a sea-blue silk cheongsam type dress that hugged her slim form, accentuating the gentle round swell of a pair of full, firm pert breasts that seemed to belong to an ancient Greek master's sculpture, from the scooped neck to about knee high. Slits ran to mid tight, giving an enticing, tough neither exaggerated nor inappropriate, view. Two coiling dragons rose from below, one shimmering white, the other glistening black, coiling around her figure to end each looking over her shoulders. A golden sash cinched her thin waist, accentuating her ballerina figure. Attached to the sash, a thin black leather holder seemingly held a foot long metallic silvery cylinder, which visible part seemed riddled with an intricate enamel work and a few jewels. Porcelain white skin graced an oval face, in which a pair of big almond shaped crystal amethyst eyes looked laughingly at them. Red pouty lips curved in a gentle smile. But the real cincher was her hair. Slight curly waves of deep red, meshed with golden yellow, coppery red and light blonde cascaded down to a bit below her fine toned behind, shrouding her in what seemed to be a cloak of fire. It was as if someone took a bonfire's flames and turned it into hair. Two lengthy silvery sideburns added to the exoticness of her figure. Shinny gray leather flat-soled boots hugged her feet to almost her knees molding to her calves and an elaborated pair of silver and gold armbands graced her slim forearms. Even the girls could feel their temperatures rising before that utterly gorgeous lady, while a couple of boys toppled out of their chairs thanks to explosive nosebleeds. And absolutely no notion of how to deal with their hormones…

Only four people in the class made through that first impact to notice something extra. Some worrisome extra. Ranma, Akane and Ukyo all shivered as they beheld her walk in and stand before the blackboard. The walk, not only of a martial artist practitioner, but that of a master of her craft. Ranma, in particular, could sense a tightly focused Ki control, with a LOT of hidden reserves. He did not relish the prospect of having to face her. It would be without doubt a very though fight. One he had no idea of the winner, for a change.

Curiously, the fourth person was one usually ignored by everyone. Hikaru Gosunkugi. He may pose as a dabbler in the Dark Arts, but he actually DID have some small abilities. And right now, those small abilities were screaming bloody murder. Make that a Nuke strike warning klaxon blare. Whatever that newcomer was, or did, it was MAJOR with capital M. He would have to pay attention to that.

The Vice Principal spoke, breaking the spell. "People, this is your new classmate. Her name is Akasei Hiko (daughter from the red star fire)."

At some of the snickers, she smiled broader, lightly displaying a pair of Ryoga-like fangs that seemed to make her smile both much cuter and a hell of a lot scarier at the same time. "Yeah, I know. My parents REALLY got me with that one." She spoke in soft musical tones, giggling a bit while lightly spinning a fiery lock around her fingers. "Pleased to meet you all. I hope we can get along well." She said, while lightly bowing to them.

Tanaka-san arhumped to call their attention back. "Indeed, do I hope you all get along well. Hiko-san has aced her transfer test and is rated as one of best students currently at Furinkan." He said smiling. Maybe, just maybe, a student as good as her could help rise somewhat the image of Furinkan! Kami-sama's willing; maybe even stimulate some of the OTHER students to better performances!

"WOW!" piped louder one of the girls. "Your parents must be very proud of you, Hiko-chan!" she burbled happily.

The smile disappeared, taken away by a look of sadness that seemed to be like seeing the sun hiding behind the clouds. "Were they here, I'm pretty sure they would agree with you…" was the soft response.

Yuka's eyes grew bigger as she and many others realized the clear meaning behind her words. "Oh my! I'm so-"

Suddenly, a light finger on her lips prevented her from finishing her apology. "No need to be ashamed. You didn't know…" were the response, the same sad smile looking closer at her.

Almost imperceptible by both of them, the fingertip lightly traced Yuka's lips.

Yuka's face became beet red. The girl's soft digit on her lips was making REALLY strange things to her blood pressure. Not her best make-out with Hiroshi EVER made her feel like that!

Ranma, Akane and Ukyo, on the other hand, were surprised with the girl's speed. It seemed at least a match for Ranma-chan's!

Then, one of the Hentai Squad made 'its' presence knew. "Humm, Hiko-san… what are your three sizes? Are you dating anyone? If not can we have a date?" he asked, with all the class of street flasher.

The silence answering was deafening. With a strange smile, Hiko seemed to, not walk, but _glide_ towards the idiot. "Tell you what:" she started with a soft, cool voice. Somehow, the previous warmth in it seemed gone. "I'll make a deal with you: For every number I give, I'll break one bone of yours to my choosing, in the most painful, permanently maiming way I can devise." She spoke in a matter of factly way. Her expression made no doubt to anyone there she was not only capable, but actually eager to do so.

The boy all but wet himself when those once laughing orbs now speared him like chips of cold dark crystal. "Hum,nevermind!ForgetIaskedanything!" he babbled, hopping for his skin to remain intact.

"Wise choice..." Was the reply as she walked silently back to the teacher's desk, looking for all the matter like a tiger on the prowl. Turning back again to look at the class, her expression now was serious. "Lets make a few things clear upfront: One, I'm the last grandmistress of my family's style, and thus more than capable of defending myself if need be. Second, while I'm not averse to dating, I demand respect. Third, I have been in life and death battles before, so I'm have absolutely NO qualms about breaking bones and shedding blood." She raised her left hand, and in an slow, almost lazy motion, struck her fingers all the way into the wall, them pushing back, ripping the chunk of plaster and cement between then from the wall without any visible effort. Looking back at the astonished class, she spoke again, while slowly crunching the piece in her hand into fine powder, again without any visible effort of her part. "The next stupid fool to treat me like some street hooker will live just long enough to regret it." At then her cold eyes seemed to glow red for an instant. "Am I making myself clear?"

The "Yes M'an!" that all the boys (and a few of the girls) responded her would have warmed the heart of any SEAL drill instructor.

"Hummm, Hiko-san, what art do you practice anyway?" another asked.

"My Art it's virtually unknown outside family. For over more than 2,000 years it had been passed from parent to child in an unbroken line since the beginning of our clan. Its name is Kage-do (the way of shadow)." She spoke. "In spite of its… dark insinuations, Kage is actually an art of balance." She explained, assuming a sensei look. "We learn from the opposite forces of the Tao: Yin &Yang, Light & Dark, Good & Evil, Male & Female… All those forces that compose the balance are explored, within and without, bringing the student to a 'middle ground', where it can draw from both, but are tied to neither. Hence the Kage denomination. A place where Light and Dark mix in balance."

"Wow…" was the sole reaction of the class. The martial artists presents nodded. The reasoning seemed sound and the basis for a powerful art indeed, if they DID managed to make it work.

"On an occasion we have dealt with other arts, both in and out of battle. To my knowledge, nowadays there are only one ryuu of the more restricted arts that would be good enough to even think about trying to face us, although, from the stories I've heard about its founder he's a thief, a cheat and a liar without any shred of honor. And his disciples seem to be just as bad. It most certainly not endeared them to me. It seems to be an honorless art, based on lies and deceit. BUT," she turned, raising a finger in attention. "since I'VE never actually faced any of them, I don't know how much is true and how much is other masters' envy speaking. Maybe even some of its students may actually not be that bad."

"Which school is that?" asked Ukyo, beating Ranma's curiosity.

"Its called 'Musabetsu Kakuto'." Was the chilling answer.


	4. Chapter 3 School, Fight And A Song

Standard Disclaimer: Hey People, I DO NOT OWN THESE GUYS! Ranma ½ belongs to Takahashi Rumiko-sama (Yes, I DO think she disserves the title!). Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko-san and Oh! My Goddess! belongs to Kosuke Fujishima. All the others occasionally used her belongs to their respective owners. What doesn't belong to them it's mine so I DO have permission to use them. I'm broke, so, it's no use to sue me. There, it's said!

One thing: Please bear with me guys, I'm just trying to put out some ideas I have about the Nerima gang and add a little 'spice' to stir things up, since I'm not that good at making humor. Hope you people like it.

Again: beyond my characters, I claim ABSOLUTELY **NO** **rights** to any of the characters used here, beyond their use in this story. C&C very appreciated. Flames will, of course, be laughed upon and deleted. I'm at brief review on syntax:

Cursed forms of characters will be labeled by suffix: -chan for a person's cursed female form (except of course for P-chan), and animal suffix for non-human forms. Example: Genma-panda or Genma-p, Shampoo-cat or Shampoo-c.

... are other languages than Japanese. (Yes, unless defined otherwise, people are talking Japanese! After all, that's what they are. -!)

... are sound effects. Example: burp or ping. Such sound effects also include animal sounds, such as Bukii! for P-chan and Quack! for Mousse-duck.

**Arial **are Genma-panda's signs.

'_Italics'_ are thoughts. Thoughts are in thought pattern. (i.e., without ANY need for translation!)

**# Arial Narrow #** are telepathic communication.

… are telephone or radio communication.

Credits:

First of all, I would like to thank Takahashi Rumiko-sama, for creating the wonderful and wacky world of Ranma ½.

Also, I'd like to send my best regards to Phil Hacker, whose syntax review I unshamelessly took (a little modified) to use in my fic. It's a very good one, to say the least, hope you don't want my guts for it. By the way, I'd loved your fic ("Foreign Influences"), gave me a lot to think about. Also, I'd like to thank a very good pal of mine, Sandro 'Herald'. Thanks a lot, your encouragement and C&C at the reactions of the people were indispensable! And, last but NEVER least, to K'thardin, who gave me not only many ideas, but also the encouragement to begin writing at first place and had the patience to C&C me and point out flaws and suggest better trails for the story to roll.

At the end of the chapters there'll be a note, explaining a few of the unusual terms and whatsoever.

If you're wandering at when does that all happens, after thinking REALLY hard about it (since I've not read all the manga series, although I HAVE read the synopses, and saw some of the Ova's, besides being a compulsive collector of Ranma fanfiction...) I decided to put like this:

Ranma ½: right after the end of the manga series, about the start of Ranma and Akane's middle year of high school. So, the gang is now about 17, with Nabiki and Kuno with 18 and Kasumi with 21.

OMG: Right after the movie. (I'm also using some manga elements too.)

SM: After the end of the Galaxia cycle (So they are all at their 'Eternal' level).

Unless specified otherwise, the background music are the usual Ranma OAV themes.

And having said it all, on with the show...

"Remember; it is the journey which enlighten us; not the destination."

Khuai Chang Kane; Kung Fu, The Legend Continues.

"To see a world

in a grain of sand,

and Heaven in a

wildflower;

Hold Infinity in the

palm of your hand,

And Eternity in an hour."

William Blake (1757-1827)

**Half Of Heaven, Half Of Hell**

A Ranma Xover, with doses of OMG, SM and a helping of HP Lovecraft to season

by Tatsu No Kami ( silvio. 02 - School Madness, A Very Strange Fight And A Song Of Soul 

_Furinkan High yards, lunch break… _

The fire-haired beauty was sat by one of the trees in the high school grounds while chatting easily with the group surrounding her. As she often liked, she had let her Ipod speakers dropped around her neck, providing some light background music to the talk, making it flow easier. The okonomiyaki cook was certainly an expert in her art. She haven't had one this good in quite a time. She also was a very good conversationalist, both finding quick many things to chat about, even some she would not be so fast to open about... She would have to pay attention to that one so as not to draw unwanted… _eyes_ on her. Somewhat closer than she expected were that dark hard girl she had spoke early... Yuka, wasn't it that her name? _Must still be a bit embarrassed and trying to make up…_ she thought, smiling internally at the somewhat disguised (to the others mostly. Her training made it clear as rain) fawning over. She would have to show the girl later on she wasn't offended. Her attention was drawn back, however, to the black short haired one. Her turbulent angry chi was certainly annoying to her sharp senses…

"Now why have you insulted my family's name like this!" spoke Akane angrily. Again. "You don't even KNOW us!" she pouted, crossing her arms. That girl had just came out of nowhere to come slurring her family's name just like that! What did she had in mind?

Some distance away, though close enough to keep tabs on the conversation, Nabiki ate with some of her flunkies. Preliminary inquires suggested that the newcomer could provide a good money venue. The Ipod on her lap, one of the latest models with video capabilities and LOADS of Gb of memory told her that even if she, by any chance, wasn't at the Kunos level of income, she most certainly had some serious money to spend. But they had to handle her with care. LOTS and lots of care. She had seen the hole in her little sister's classroom, AND heard the tape one of her informers there recorded. That, coupled with the martial artists reactions around her all led to one conclusion: crossing her the wrong way could be BAD for one's health, and Nabiki for one wasn't the one to test that just like that. Not without a GOOD insurance made. Some of the other info on her seemed promising though. Or rather, the complete lack of them. NOBODY got a past THAT clean. _I wonder what lies there…_ she thought idly to herself.

Hiko sighed loudly in a mix of exasperation and annoyance. "Look Miss… Tendo, correct?" At Akane's affirmative, if angry, nod, she went on. "First of all, I spoke ANYTHING against your family. I exposed on what I have heard about the Musabetsu Kakuto ryuu. Only that. I even ALSO said that such information were TOLD to me, and that I had NO previous on-site experience with both the school and/or its practitioners." Before she could reply, she turned and coolly added: "Besides, I find VERY odd that so many masters all over Japan and Asia have such a bad opinion about that school. Have ANYTHING of what I have told about the school's behavior been wrong, by any chance?" she finished, looking seriously at the girl.

Both Akane and Ranma bowed their heads, deeply embarrassed. As much as they didn't like to admit, the newcomer's words where NOT untrue. A bit offensive, yes, in a way, but not lies.

"Look, I didn't come here to pick fights with anyone. I have tried" she spoke sarcastically. "to simply settle down and make a new life for me in peace. (That seemingly simple remark made Nabiki's left brow to lift in curiosity.) It seems my hopes were just that, though, hopes…" she continued, with mingled sadness and resignation in her voice.

"No no Hiko-chan!" stopped Yuka, clearly deeply distressed over her depressed response. "They didn't mean it," sparing a highly unusual scathing look to the pair. "DIDN'T you?" she all but growled to them, daring her friends to disagree. NOBODY made her Hiko-chan sad!

While all just sweatdropped, and Ranma and Akane where fast to sprout denials so to appease the visibly irate girl, Hiko's face, though without any outward reaction, hid troubled thoughts. She had seen that kind of reaction before around her, and it did NOT bode well. Mother's blood made her unusually… attractive, to both genders, and Father's heritage cloaked and diluted most of the bad reactions any of the more sensitive would have, making for a VERY dangerous mix for the unwary. Another would probably reveled in it and enjoyed the situation, but with her experiences, the thought of… using people like that revolted her to the core. _I have to find her spiritual resonances right away. Thankfully its soon enough to break it without lasting harm...The last thing I need now is an unwilling thrall to worry about…_ she thought, deeply disturbed.

They still had a few minutes of lunchtime before getting back in. For their grade, the morning classes were primarily lectures, with the teachers rotating between the rooms while the students stayed in the same place. After lunch, classes such as gym, labs, home economics, music, wood and metal shop, computing, and anything else that required special rooms/equipments were held. Thankfully, by then she would have it resolved, if not totally, at least enough to make the problem as small as possible…

* * *

_Early Afternoon, at P.E. class…_

If their first impressions indicated how the newcomer was a skilled martial artist, the P.E. erased any lasting doubt of that. Now clad in the usual bloomer/t-shirt combo, hers, instead of being the usually unflattering thing many were used to, looked like a piece of high fashion, exposing her body's definition (and beauty, whose many a guy and girl were stunned by…) was now clear to everybody. A combination of athlete's muscle definition with sheer beauty more than enough to give Ranma-chan a good run for her money. A master's usual blend of seemingly easy relaxation with razor sharp readiness in her delicate manners made the Crew feel will at ease around her.

The coach put her through a battery of tests, seeking to grade her, and showing the newcomer to be an athlete of high skills.

Then it finally happened. Nerima's craziness and tendency for the unusual and bizarre levels, which had kept more or less at its base levels for the last couple of weeks, suddenly shot up the roof during the next moments.

It began when the teacher, already impressed by her athletic prowess, asked Hiko if she knew something of rhythm gymnastics, thinking in the possibility of using her against St. Hebereke's coming competition.

The fire-headed girl replied that she knew and got asked for a demonstration. Shrugging, she came to the sound system and hooked her Ipod into it. Quickly browsing, she found the music she sought. Asking to one of the girls (actually, Yuka, who had stayed ever so close to her since lunch) to start the play once she got to the arena. She took the initial position and signaled for the start.

**Music: Entre Dos Aguas, by Paco de Lucia.**

Nabiki always had an eye for classy and stylish, and had a very developed artistic taste. Her room sported quite a few reproductions of works d'art from all over the world and her Cd collection sported from classical works for Koto & Sakuhachi (traditional Japanese guitar and bamboo flute) to US pop, passing through many many different kinds of music. The haunting guitar playing that filled the gym was actually one of her favorites, one that Akane knew, having heard it herself a few times. A gaijin play truly, though she had to admit he was a master of his craft. She actually liked this one, having saw and enjoyed the show in which he played with the Spanish dancers tap dancing it. (AN: The Aranjues concert, to be more precise. Also please remember its how AKANE remembers!)

But what came after it just drove her jaw to the floor. Alongside the ones from all watching the tryout.

There was no other possible way of describing it: suddenly, at the staccato beat of the guitars and drums, the girl became a living, breathing, dancing flame. Combining elements of modern, classical dance and ballet with martial arts moves and sheer ability, she leapt, circled, spun and twirled. She jumped here and there, ethereal like a wisp of flame over burning wood, using the whole three dimensional space of the arena as if gravity held no meaning at all to her. As if things like motion, inertia and acceleration were her personal toys to play with. Not only technically superb, but incredibly beautiful as well. Her long hair spun around her like true fire, making the apparently joke about her name seem actually the will of the Kami manifest. More than one spectator fell hopelessly for the dancing beauty then and there. Yuka almost dove and eat on the spot, restraining herself with great difficulty.

When the flame finally descent back to earth at the end of the music, once more becoming an young fire-headed girl, the applause rocket the gym for almost five minutes straight.

And almost as an afterthought, our resident pigtailed martial artist opened his mouth and had his missing due of foot chewing, as he remarked a _wee_ bit too loud: "Feh! Any good martial artist can do that. And what good would prancing around be in a real fight anyways?"

The fire headed beauty just turned to face him, smirking a lot like he used to do when taunting an adversary, her fangs showing a feral smile. "Care to put it to the test then, boy?" she sneered. "Or are just mouth and hot air?" she teased.

Ranma saw red. NOBODY challenged him like that and got away with it! (Of course, the fact that HIS comment started it, just as her reaction being quite similar to his on like situation should have clued him about the wisdom of going through with it. Unfortunately, it didn't.) "You're on!" he all but growled back, while jumping to join her into the arena. He normally couldn't bring himself to fight a girl, but for some reason the fact didn't registered in his mind that moment.

Hiko looked at him, them at Yuka. "Yuka-san, can you please turn it on again?" she requested.

What followed surprised them all.

Once again, she spun, leapt and jumped, only this time, with Ranma after her. The young man jumped, punched and kicked, but every time it looked like he would make contact, the red head would spun around his strikes like a wisp of flame, unpredictable and untouchable.

Finally Ranma lost his cool for good, and crying "Kashuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" started punching a storm.

He could barely hear her softly say "Kakyoku No Kaze… (Wind Song)" before speeding just as much as him. Them he felt soft taps around his body and all of a sudden, his muscles locked tight, immobilizing him.

Stopping her dance, she slowly walked towards the paralyzed Ranma. Standing in front of him, she deliberately poked him in all the vital spots in the front of his body, finishing with a knife thrust to the throat that stopped just shy of actually hitting him. "Just so you know," she spoke with a final, cool tone in her voice. "you're dead."

The silence was deafening. Ranma lost. To girl. And she made look like it wasn't that difficult.

Acknowledging the end of the class she turned back towards the showers. After a few steps, she stopped to speak over her shoulder: "You know why you lost? It was because you underestimated me. No reasonable martial artist makes a mistake that primary. Had this been a death match, you would be with your ancestors now." She said frostily. "The paralysis will fade in a minute. I hope this have taught you to be more respectful of people, women in particular. Not every one is some fragile flower that wilts with a harsh look, and there are those out there, of _either _gender, which would not put besides them to at least maim you permanently for such stupidity." And with such words she parted, entering the locker room, followed by more of the girls, still stunned by the display.

Watching the girl enter the locker room, Ranma could only fume to himself while listening to his friends teasing. To anyone else, they would sound as friendly tease. To him, they were an insult to his skills and hard earned accomplishments. _Next time, you'll not get away so easily! NO ONE beats Ranma Saotome!_ He thought angrily.

The girls were in the locker room, bathing, chatting animatedly and in general getting ready for the final classes. But this time, the center of the gossips was the redheaded newcomer. After disrobing, she came to the shower stalls and began cleaning, making visible something that not only renewed the whispers, but gave them extra strength.

Covering her back entirely, from the small of her back up to the base of her neck, an amazingly beautiful tattoo, drawn in breath-taking detail, stood out amidst the cascading warm water. From just right above the start of her firm round behind to about her waist line, choppy sea blue waves parted to the rising of a mountain island. Its peak, lined with her spine, were a volcano's aperture, spewing lava and flames up in a great explosion. The central plume, though, mid way up turned into a rising phoenix, the fire-bird's wings fully spread out as its beak opened into a cry of joy as it rose from its fiery nest towards the starry sky above that could almost be heard. Flanking the scene, from each side of the island, rising from the sea towards the sky as well, were a pair of dragons: one pearly white, the other, ebony black, both looking as if about to jump out of her back and roar at them for real. One would not have to look much further to also note that not only the dragons seemed to carefully protect the bird in its ascension, but seemed to look upon it with a great deal of pride.

The rumor mill just turned and churned, more than happily fed.

* * *

_Last class of the day: Music_

It was the last period of the day, and a dreaded one for class 2-F: Music. Further time provided a self explanation as the usual sounds of tortured -BADLY tortured- musical instruments resounded through the room. A couple of mediunish to good singing voices made themselves heard here and there, but was all.

Then it was, once again, Hiko's, turn. The fire headed beauty looked around the room, until her amethyst eyes fell on an old guitar, apparently long overlooked. She drew it to her, taking a rag from… somewhere, and cleaning the coat of dust covering it, and then expertly tuning it up. Then she ran through some basic scales and chords, and parts of tunes to the music teacher's instructions. She was, it was noted, to few people's surprise, easily better player than anyone in the class. Even Akane-chan and Ranma-kun, who had two of the best singing voices of the group, had to admit she had skill.

As the end of the class drew close the teacher asked her if she was any good at playing songs.

Hiko hefted the guitar and grinned somewhat mischievously. "What song would you like?" she asked.

The class noticed that her tone was neither timid nor arrogant. She just spoke as if playing was something natural for her. They weren't too far from the truth.

"You pick." came the response. Many waited expectantly to see what she would come with. Yuka's eyes were twin hearts, as she felt 'her' Hiko-chan were just sooo gifted…

The fire-head grinned again, now mostly to herself, as she held the guitar lovingly to her, almost automatically re-adjusting the strings. "It's been a while since last I really played…" she spoke sorrowfully in a soft voice seemingly to herself, though her words seemed to fill the space around her. "Ever since my parent's died..." But before anyone could say anything about it, she spoke again: "But I think they would want me to go on, no matter what."

And started to play.

And almost as one, the whole of Furinkan High stopped to listen, as an angel's voice echoed through it all. An angel, singing about life, death, sorrow and renewal. About Hope and Love.

To Ranma and Akane, in particular, it would be something they wouldn't ever forget. In the coming days, trough the seemingly endless struggle, chaos and adventure, they would come to know the newcomer as a trusted friend, and would endure a lot besides her. They would see her in her best… also in her most terrifying possible worst. But trough it all, they wouldn't forget that time when they saw what truly shone in the depths of her heart.

**Blessid Union Of Souls - Brother My Brother (from Pokemon, The Movie)**

**Brother my brother**

**Tell me what are fighting for**

**We've got to end this war**

**We should love one another**

**Oh, can't we just pretend**

**This war never began**

**We can try**

**Brother my brother**

(We see a young Hiko, about 5 or 6, practicing martial arts with her parents. The background look like an old temple, the thick woods around and stile of the broken down masonry indicate somewhere in India. The look of pride in both adults' faces is evident every time their child, in spite of her youth, excels again and again, mastering moves way ahead her age. Every time she doesn't get it, one or more usually both will go to her, show the maneuver as many times needed, working alongside the child until she conquers it, always smiling encouragingly at her efforts. The child laughs heartily, enjoying her time with them, as the training becomes soon a play between the three. To the side, just looking at the 'domestic' scene, a middle age looking birdman, his speckled wings folded back, watches. Lord Choiler, elder shaman and 1st Councilor of the Phoenix Tribe often took secret travels to other parts of the world, to keep more or less appraised on the dealings of the land-walkers. That he had found the odd trio in front of him, and ended befriending and being befriended by them was a nice surprise, one that he was sure could help the tribe in years to come…)

**We face each other from different sides**

**The anger burns can't remember why**

**It's kind of crazy to cause so much pain**

**Our foolish pride makes us hate this way**

(A young Hiko tries again to talk to one of her angelic pursuers. The angry angel responds by blasting the young girl away. The sadness in her eyes is unmistakable even while survival instincts honed by hard training keep her from being killed. Later on, she cries in her mother's arms, not understanding why the beautiful being was so angry at her. Her mother sadly looks down to her as she holds her close…)

(Hiko's face is awash with angry tears as she fights alongside her parents. Surrounding them are the remains of once was a children park, now reduced to smoking rubble. Some children, including their keepers, have being caught on the crossfire of the demonic bolts and lie around, bleeding and hurt. Their tanned appearances and colorful clothing mark the place as somewhere in Central or South America. The eight year old child's face twists with utter hatred as black and white flames suddenly sprout around her small frame, similar to the white fire surrounding her father and the black one around her mother. Suddenly, a great flare of power blinds them all…

Later on, on their house, the child pours out her grief for the hurt innocents and herself until she finally falls asleep in her father's arms…)

**We watch our world fall apart**

**Tell me what good is winning**

**When you lose your heart**

(A ten year old Hiko plays with a group of young cat yokai in a misty valley in the mountains. The style of the constructions around them looks like some old Japanese temple grounds. On the side, some elders speak with her parents. All 'people' present doesn't look exactly human (having to one degree or another some feline trait like fur, ears, eyes, sometimes a lighter or heavier combination of them all), although they dress in a style reminiscent of the peasants from the warring states era. After some time, from a group, whose looks and better clothing detach them as elders and/or leaders, a white haired female that seems to lead them all come forth to shake hands with the redhead's parents.

At a distance, the shadowy figure of a cat-headed woman in Egyptian clothing can be seen smiling upon them all, specially the children at play…

The children play on even happier when their elders come to say something after pointing to Hiko's parents. They surround Hiko with in a dogpile of hugs and smiles. Soon after their joyful laughter can be heard as they run after each other around the misty woods…)

_(Nabiki remembers the first times she had to blackmail and scam people for 'favors' and/or money. Her heart cried at the suffering on their faces, but she hardened herself thinking about that being the only way she had to put some food on her family's table, as their father was a complete zero. After a time, it would slowly get easier and easier to ignore the pain and suffering in their faces and lives, so that she could bring home some extra money…)_ Unnoticed by all, a couple of tears make its way down Nabiki's face.

**Brother my brother**

**Tell me what are fighting for**

**Isn't life worth so much more**

**We should love one another**

**Oh, can't we just pretend**

**This war never began**

**Tell me why**

**Brother my brother**

**Yes**

**We can try**

**Brother my brother**

**Yes**

_(Kuno remembers one of the few times his mother took him and his sister to the park, the simple happiness of enjoying the day and each others company, before the darkness came, to rob them of her and their minds as well…)_ For a few instants, a wistful expression of longing is seen in the kendoist face…

(An 11 year old Hiko and her mother leave alone at night, a saddened expression on their faces as the say their goodbyes to her father. Even if it was something both had got somewhat used to, neither liked it. Mother and child could be seen, later on, entering the 'red light' district, so they could satisfy a… hunger that could not be denied for longer. At distance, the lights of the Eiffel tower marked the place as Paris. At the next morning, both could be seen, back home, sleeping beside her father, both hugging him and each other tightly as if to try to wash away the memories…)

**Let's take a moment and look deep inside**

**And say we'll learn to give love a try**

**When matters differ as we seem to be**

**There's so much more to me than what you see**

(At night, many dancers spun around a huge bonfire under the light of the full moon. Their hand-made leather with adorned feathers costumes and sharp defined sun-tanned features mark them as Native Americans. An old man, his long braided white hair and paintings marking him as a shaman speaks, telling an old story of his people to a fascinated 12-year-old Hiko, while her parents dance with the others, as guests of honor. Having recently destroyed an old evil spirit of the land, on verge on being released on the tribe, their dwindling magic no longer able to keep it contained due to their ever small number they had earned the tribe's respect and friendship. Their travels had brought them in contact with them and, after proving their worth, they were able to help the small tribe. Unfortunately, they would have to go, for their battle spent too much energy. It would certainly draw unwanted attention soon. At least they were able to cover it up enough so that other demons hadn't felt it. The others would be gentler in their pursuit. As the teen sleeps happily in the relative safety, lulled into pleasant dreams by the soft voice of the old Yataalii, part of her wonders if they would be able to ever see them again. Surrounding the pair, as if drawn in by their presence, the shadowy figures of many animals, recognizable by any with the knowledge as totems, stand about in a protective circle…)

_(Ryoga remembers the many times when in spite of his often joking ways, Ranma was always ready to help him in some way: helping him find his way home or back to school without loosing himself, sparring so that their skills would grow, sharing the last bread of lunch so that he would have at least something to eat, just plain being there when the solitude would get too much to bear alone… Then he remembers all the fights they had since his coming to Nerima, the feud and all…) _An uncertain expression, part sadness, part regret, part shame, substitutes the usual bitter scowl in his face for a while as he passes by, getting lost once more…

**You don't have to be this way**

**Think about the consequences**

**Don't turn around and walk away**

(A 13-year-old Hiko is seated in a picnic towel in a park near the Big Ben, late into the night, sipping some tea while chatting with a shaggy haired blonde, apparently some years older, either into her late teens or early twenties. Her companion, smartly dressed in what seems to be a blue colored military uniform of suit and short skirt, seems deeply depressed about something. Hiko eventually turns to hold her tightly to herself, while the girl finally breaks down and start weeping blood red tears. A closer look allows us to see ivory white fangs peeking from her mouth, similar to the fire head. After some time, the blonde composes herself somewhat, smiling weakly her recovery to her, some semblance of acceptance showing in her light red colored eyes. Hiko smiles back at her, while dabbing the tears. The two eventually rise and start to walk away, still chatting, although in a lighter tone now.

At some distance, outside the pair's sight, Hiko's parents watch, in the company of a male, dressed in a dark red overcoat and low brimmed hat. His eyes are hidden by yellow tinted glasses, but a fanged grim of satisfaction can be seem in his face…

As the pair walk away, from the top of a nearby building, another blonde, this time a teen much like Hiko, dressed in what look like an orange and white parody of a Japanese schoolgirl uniform and a mask watches, uncertain of what to do. At her feet, a white cat with a golden moon upon his brow also watches, although paying more attention to the elder trio in the shadows than to the leaving duo…

… while she herself and his feline companion are watched some rooftops away by a trio: An elder man, with a big facial scar, carrying night-vision binoculars, another with a parabolic microphone and a third, sighting the pair on the scope of a sniper rifle. All three use a male dark green version of the military urban uniform the girl wear, down the coat-of-arms shield over their hearts.)

_(Akane remembers the heartache and anger that became a part of her with her mother's passing. The training, the solitude from the other girls, unable to understand her. The hatred taking root in her heart at being treated as a piece o meat to be had by whoever -boy- could take her. Them Ranma. In spite of her fears, mistrust and anger, how he proved his honorable, caring heart. Even if he acted like a jerk sometimes, how when the chips got down he proved his worth and how much he truly loved her…) _A look of shame and uncertainty, followed by determination, passed by her face, as a true decision was perhaps finally reached.

**Brother my brother**

**Tell me what are fighting for**

**Isn't life worth so much more**

**We should love one another**

**Oh, can't we just pretend**

**This war never began**

**Tell me why**

**Brother my brother**

(In a hidden oasis in the middle of a desert, a slight older Hiko spars with a couple of men. Their dark, full body clothing, swarthy skins (some with some small dark facial tattoos), and sharp angled faces marks them as Arabian deep desert wanderers, the Bedouins. Hiko's staff glows with her energies as she attacks or defends against the glowing scimitars and staffs of her adversaries. To one side, her parents and white haired elders can be seen, presiding over the match. Both sides seem more or less balanced, but eventually the girl wins. Hiko, some bruises and bleeding cuts on herself, showing that her victory was hard earned, folds her staff and walks to one her downed adversaries, apparently the eldest of them, extending her hand. The older, curly dark haired man looks for a moment, then a roughish smile cracks his sharply defined hawkish face, as he grabs the proffered hand to stand up. As he stands, Hiko's hold on his arm last one moment too long, as a slight blush covers her face. Her mother notices, grinning impishly…

They had passed the test of the medjai, and earned their respect and possibly, alliance.)

_(Ranma remembers a lot of passages of his life: the harshness of his training, the many betrayals from his father, the few friends, often misunderstood by his rough, uncultured ways. Nabiki's maneuverings around him, always landing him in problems of one or another form because of his ignorance…) _A look of shame, followed by anger and uncertainty, passes through the young man's face, finally settling into some sort of decision…

**Brother my brother**

**Tell me what are fighting for**

**Isn't life worth so much more**

**We should love one another**

**Oh, can't we just pretend**

**This war never began**

**Tell me why**

**Brother my brother**

**Tell me why (Tell me why)**

**Brother My Brother**

**We can try (try)**

**Brother My Brother**

As the final cords were played, the song finished, almost in synch with the end of the class. Not a single dry eye among the girls, and many boys had also suspiciously shinning eyes. Something that seemed to repeat almost all over the school.

Hiko bowed to her audience, which returned the gesture. The teacher signaled the end of the class and school day, prompting them to guard their belongings as they prepared to leave.

What would be noticed only much later on, would be the blossoming of the seeds sowed on so many hearts that day, but bloom they would.

* * *

_Some minutes later, at Furinkan's gates… _

People were going out, in groups or by themselves, slowly pouring out and heading home as was their wont. Many still discussing amongst themselves about that breathtakingly beautiful song from just the last class and their impressions about it.

A slightly larger than usual group, however, called the attention. Hiko, Ranma, Akane and Ukyo, besides the duos of Hiroshi and Daisuke and Yuka (still on sugar high at 'her' Hiko-chan's musical skills display) and Sayuri were still engrossed in conversation as they too left Furinkan.

Suddenly, Hiko stopped, bringing the others to halt as well. "Yuka-chan," she began, a little embarrassed. "I have something to do, and… I hope after it you can still like me…" she finished a bit sadly. She had finally found what she was looking for, and the sooner she did it the better for all involved. Thankfully, she would be able to do it in one go, making sure that there would be no aftereffects.

While the others exchanged intrigued looks, wondering at the meaning of her words, Yuka was more vocal: "Of COURSE I'll still be your friend Hi-chan! Why on earth would I not be!" she exclaimed, really distressed by the concept.

The fire headed girl just stood closer to the smaller one, speaking in a soft voice that in spite of it still managed to be heard by all: "I hope you do. I really hope you do…" before holding her in a tight embrace.

As everybody stood stunned at the sudden action, she brought her head closer to the shorter girl. Yuka's love-addled mind almost brought her to the Clouds and Rain at the mere notion that her beloved would claim her just here and there, in front of them all.

Then Hiko kissed lightly Yuka's brow as ki flared around them. Them she released the girl, who had a look of someone just awakening from a dream.

"Ooohhh…" she moaned lightly, before landing her eyes on Hiko. "What just happened?" she asked, between fear and surprise. "What did you DO to me?" she asked, still stunned, but a lot more clear-headed. Her flaming cheeks were a clear sight that she wasn't so… intent on her 'Hiko-chan' as before.

Hiko's face bore a sad expression as she spoke: "Nothing intentional Yuka, I swear." Looking down, she went on. "Advanced students of Kage put out an… aura, I guess. A field of ki, that surround us at all times. We can do many things with it, from passive scans to active probes to defense to attack. But to some people, our… ki resonances match in such a way that they can't help but fall madly in love with us. Like it was some love magic. When it happens, we have to take some time to see that our ki resonances no longer match, or it can actually enslave that person to us." She spoke sadly. No doubt they were going to shun her after this, but she would NOT lie (even if she couldn't tell them EVERYTHING), nor hide from what she was. "The longer it goes, the harder it takes to break. There have been some cases in our clan, where it was detected too late, and the poor person became a life-long thrall of the warrior. When such happened, he or she were duty bound to look after the thrall for life. Doing it on purpose is grounds for being expelled from the ryuu. In some cases… even death, if one fell to using our knowledge for darkness…" she finished. She looked briefly at Yuka in a reassuring way. "You needn't worry, it didn't happen long enough for causing any lasting harm to you. You are free again. Goodbye…" she spoke softly with a sad voice, while turning to go home. Alone, as she expected…

… until a hand on her wrist stopped her. "Why are you leaving?" asked a surprised and intrigued, but surprisingly not angry, Yuka. Whose expression was repeated on the others' faces…

"I…I didn't want to embarrass you guys any more. And sometimes, when people got out of the thrall trance, they tended to get very upset with whoever did it, whether intentionally or not. I'd rather not upset you more than what I already did…" She replied.

The shorter girl walked and embraced her, also speaking softly: "You don't need to, Hiko-chan." At her surprised face, she giggled a little before going on. "Studding at Furinkan and living in Nerima with Saotome-kun and his friends teaches one to expect… unusual things." She finished grinning impishly (something repeated by all of the others…) at Ranma and Akane, who had the grace to look rather sheepish. "You didn't do it on purpose, and tried to fix it as soon as you could." she spoke smiling. "I meant what I said before... about wanting to be your friend. And it haven't changed any."

"Are…are you really sure about it?" asked Hiko, still uncertain.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure." Was the answer, as Yuka held the fire-head in a tight embrace.

A solar smile graced her face, and together, as friends, they left, only separating when their paths home lead them to different directions.

* * *

_Some other part of Tokyo, late at night…_

Ryusaburo Otomoki ran. Ran as if the hounds of hell were snipping at his heels.

He wasn't THAT much wrong about it, as a matter of fact.

That wasn't RIGHT, danm it! He was powerful! He was immortal! He was…

A sudden snap and an echoing, chilling laughter behind him made his internal ranting stop as he poured more speed to his members (incidentally achieving speeds well beyond the best Olympic runners…), trying to get as far away from that… MONSTER as possible!

The night had started so well… He had left for a little 'snack', just as he had for those last 3 years since THEY had come for him. Found him worthy of being more… Of being powerful… Of becoming an immortal vampire, untouched by death, age or disease. Of ruling well above the mortal cattle that scuttled about, unaware of their masters' presence among them.

And then… that, that THING came! Out of nowhere, the tall gaijin dressed in a dark red overcoat and low brimmed hat. He had thought it was one of those stupid do-gooders, until he had actually saw his eyes when he punched him, breaking those silly looking yellow glasses he wore: blood red eyes, glowing with an inner power and madness.

Then all of a sudden, there was nothing but darkness. Darkness and those horrible staring red eyes… That many THOUSAND staring red eyes! Not to mention that utterly terrifying smile!

He had managed to give it the slip. But had to find some safe place, fast!

Turning a corner, he saw her: medium high, shaggy blond hair, a certain tomboyish air around that nevertheless had an interesting appeal. Gaijin most certainly, by the looks, the creamy white skin and proportions. She was dressed in a short purple tank-top that seemed sprayed on her pert breasts, leaving her mid rift bare. Dark purple gloves that came to her mid arms. Short dark leather miniskirt, and glossy black leather boots coming to mid-tight. All in all showing a nice sculpted figure, neither over muscled nor flabby. Just the right amount of fat and muscle to create a view quite pleasing to anyone. She seemed absorbed in her own world, listening to an Ipod with her eyes closed, slowly swaying to an unheard tune.

Ryusaburo smiled a wicked fanged smile to himself. At the very least she would provide him with extra food. If it didn't serve him as a shield or extra slave as a ghoul. _Though it would be a shame to waste such a fine piece of meat… _he thought lustfully to himself. _Maybe I can even enjoy myself some before…_

He never got to finish whatever he was thinking, as the girl stood from the wall she was leaning against and turned to look at him with a grim that actually stopped him cold. The exact same grim the monster had gave him before!

She for the first time opened her big pretty eyes. They were a glowing amber red, like wood burning. Just a shade lighter than the ones from HIM! "I though ye never would get 'ere. What took you so long?" she spoke with soft accent, though it didn't masked the scorn underneath. Then…

… then she just vanished into a female figure of pure darkness, a white ivory fanged smile and amber eyes staring fixedly at him the only things showing in the sudden cloying darkness that seemed to cover the alley. "Well, ye little worm," her voice seemed to drawl, coming from all the sides of the deepening shadows of the alley. "Time to die for good. I'll even make it easy for ya, since you're not worth the effort…"

"Ha! You're not that though girl!" he mocked, trying to hide his nervousness. "I'll make you my meal and use your rotting corpse as my servant!" he hissed exposing his fangs.

The only thing he never expected about the whole situation was for her to bend over, laughing her head off.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! That's...that's the most funny crap I EVER saw one of you fools ever pull out!" she said laughing loudly. "Oh well," she spoke standing again, a darker silhouette among the now deep darkness of the alley. "I suppose I can finish you off quicker just for that…" she spoke as if pondering aloud. "After all, you DID amuse me…"

Ryusaburo spat angrily and run after her, not quite realizing that he couldn't fell the walls of the alley anymore, just the dark emptiness they were in. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to show the bitch her place as he intended too.

As he neared her, her right hand suddenly became wreathed in flames, which seemed to hungrily leap towards him.

His screams as the flames slowly consumed him, a bit at the time, impossible to be put out no matter what, echoed through the alley for a timeless while.

After staring at the silent mound of burning remains for a while, the girl suddenly looked up, sensing another presence nearby. "Master." She spoke. "What do you think of that?" she asked, grinning slightly and showing off her fangs at that while pointing at the ash pile.

A tall man of European look, dressed in a dark red overcoat and low brimmed hat seemed to appear out of nowhere, the shadows flowing over his figure as if he was rising from water. He grinned back at her, also showing a pair of fangs. "Not bad, Apprentice. You have grow in your domain of the abilities I gave you. And those Helena did as well. She would be pleased with your mastery of her flames. Now see that nothing remains. I must report to my Master." The now somber looking man spoke again in clipped tones: "Situation concluded. Target terminated. Restoring power locks to Standard." Walking away, he seemed to melt into the now normal shadows of the alley and disappear.

The blonde looked after him, mingled exasperation and pride in her demeanor. _At lest he doesn't call me 'policewoman' all the time anymore…_ she thought. Grabbing a small communicator and clipping it to her ear she pulled out the little wire-like mike, activating the device and speaking briefly into it. "Agent Victoria reporting. Target has been silenced. No need for a cleansing team at the time."

"Very well, m'lady." replied the cultured tones of Sir Integra's right hand, Walter. "We will be waiting at base for your report. I also took the liberty of already preparing your evening meal."

"Thanks Walter. My probable rendezvous will be in 30 minutes or so."

"I take then the young lady is still having some difficulty with Master Alucard's 'shadow jump'?" Seres could almost see the old man's smile as she herd him.

"Yeah. I still can't seem to focus enough. Can you please warn Sir Integra?"

"Do not worry, she'll be. And I'm sure you will conquer it in time. Base out." replied him, finishing the link.

"Yeah." she mumbled to herself. "After all, I've got the time in the world…" she spoke ruefully to herself.

* * *

_Half an hour later, at Hellsing's Japan HQ… _

"… and then he simply burned to ashes." Finished Seres. "I waited long enough to let the wind scatter the dust then came here to report, m'am."

Listening intently to her was another blonde, whose port, vests and demeanor all suggested at the very least a high born upbringing. Actually, Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing was an English noblewoman, the last scion of the Hellsing family and the head of one the most secret organization of the UK: the Sacred Order Of The Royal Knights, the Hellsing organization. For generations, the men and women of the Hellsing bloodline were tasked by the crown with the duty to protect the United Kingdom from hostile non-humans, by searching and destroying any who could 'upset' the delicate balance between those who need to know and the ignorant masses. Over time, they had made pacts and alliances with denizens of the night that had proven themselves... peaceful and/or useful, as they were. In the 'old days', as it were, beings like the girl in front of her would have been put to death as fast and swiftly as possible. AS she wasn't guilty for her condition, a modicum of mercy would also be applied, by making her demise as fast and painless as possible. But those were different times... And, truth to tell, even if she didn't demonstrated much, she was somewhat found of the young vampire girl. With those others help a couple of years ago, she managed to find a balance she never thought possible. Not even Alucard could do it. _Which is why I think he came to respect her some more these days... _she thought ruefully.

"Very well then, Seres, thank you. Anything else you want to add?" she replied with a raised eyebrow at her hesitancy.

"Well... I'm not quite sure m'am, but after finishing that worm out, I felt... I don't know, I'm not quite sure about how to describe it. It look similar to how I felt back home just before we faced that Incognito guy, but worse, much worse…" She spoke, shivering slightly.

"Good." Spoke the voice of Alucard, coming from the shadows. "You ARE learning Apprentice." He said, coming out of the shadows with a truly terrifying grim in his face. "You felt correctly. A storm's coming. A fight to make all those we had before look like paltry kindergarten brawls..." he spoke, eyes large as his face became a grim to give the Ripper itself shivers. "I never felt so excited before! It will be my finest war ever!" he gloated happily.

Sir Integra just looked at them. Though her face remained still, she was deeply troubled by their words and what they could mean; for then, for the crown, and for mankind. _I wonder if it has something to do with my conversation with that 'Sailor Pluto'…_ she thought worriedly to herself. _She certainly seemed to be worried enough to seek an alliance with us against… whatever she was facing, or about to. Which falls TOTALLY out of the profile we have on those 'Senshi' activities so far... What awaits for us, I wonder?

* * *

_

AN: I mucked up a little with the Hellsing (the OAV) timeline/story to fit it in. I made it happen during the time Sailor V was at England, so she and Hellsing would have crossed paths (Minako is DEATHLY afraid of Alucard, having had seen what the elder Nosferatu is capable of.). Also, during that time, Hiko ended befriending Seres and helping her adapt faster and easier to her vampiric condition and powers (She isn't like Alucard, but doesn't mind so much being a vampire anymore. Also, Hiko and her mother taught her how to feed on persons in case of need without killing or turning them.) than in the cannon. Also, when the child looking vampire Helena died in her library, she passed some of her abilities to Seres, most notably, her control over fire (there might be some others, but I'm still working into what they would be.) Following the trail of the FREAK chips eventually brought Hellsing to Japan, where they came in contact with the senshi.

From now on you might get a few things about the 'Oh My Goddess!' story line that doesn't fit neither the OAVs/Movie nor the manga. That would be because I DIDN'T read the manga, only saw the animes. But having read TONS of fics about the OMG universe, plus knowing quite a lot of many different mythologies, I did take some creative liberties here and there. Bear with me, I'm trying to make the story flow as easily as possible. As always, all and any C&C are very welcome. Non-constructive flames will be directed to my fireplace, were they'll be actually useful for something…


	5. Chapter 4 Strange er, Schooll Days

**Half Of Heaven, Half Of Hell**

A Ranma Xover, with doses of OMG, SM and a helping of HP Lovecraft to season

by Tatsu No Kami

**03 - Strange…er, School Days**

_Ten minutes past dawn, Tendo Dojo backyard…_

The usual fight between Ranma and his father had just about ended. Once more, as it had been in this last couple of months, with the fat lazy glutton laying unconscious by the koi pond.

In little over a minute.

An eternity to him.

Ranma sighted. Even doing his best to tone down his skills, slowing down to almost a crawl, merely tapping stead of truly punching/kicking, and leaving holes in his defense big enough to drive a semi trough, he had to face the harsh, undeniable truth: his father could not, and had not been able to face him in combat for a while. And he didn't believe that it would change from here on. Oyaji was a lazy oaf, leaving all the hard work for him.

Then…

THOMMMMMM!

The sound of a gong resonated loudly thorough the air, followed by heavy breathing.

**Choose your destiny…**

**Flawless victory!**

Recognizing the opening verses of movie theme from the one Arcade game he actually LIKED, Ranma's attention was drawn to the back wall, from over which the loud sounds seemed to be coming from.

A quick jump brought him to the top of the wall.

From which the surprise at what he saw almost fell him back.

The entire backyard of the neighboring house, which had been empty for quite a few time (ever since a couple of months after he got in Nerima, actually), had been transformed into an open air training ground, even incorporating quite tastefully the typical koi pond and a few trees. More to the side, a more traditional roofed dojo stood, besides a house about the same size of the Tendo's.

On one corner, dressed in a black lycra bike shorts and royal blue tank top were the fire-headed newcomer. At the music blaring 'FIGHT!', she became a blur of motion, punching, jumping, spinning, kicking and rolling from a point to another of the whole space. From time to time, a silvery staff, riddled with red and blue enamel work appeared in her hands, seemingly from nowhere. The sight of the staff nibbled at Ranma's memory, but he could not, for the life of him, bring it out. Oftentimes her hands and/or feet would blur into speeds that rivaled his Amaguriken, and the speed and precision of her staff work would shame Kuno's bokken skills.

Finally, at the closing verses blared, she spun and turned to him, her hands together in a familiar arrangement to a martial artist. Ki flared around her as she cried "Hadouken!" and a bluish-white ball of compressed lightning sped towards his position.

He almost jumped away, before realizing the shot would pass quite over his head. Also, the fact that he couldn't sense any emotion at all in the attack drew his attention. Though he knew pure ki attacks were theoretically possible, he had never crossed with it before. Also, the fact that he, himself, was still incapable of it never crossed his mind… Nope, not at all.

"Well…" she quipped. "If you're done peeping me, how about a little spar?" she asked, grinning. "I take your previous fight over there left you not satisfied if that…" she made a distasteful face at remembering what she just saw while pointing at the Tendo's backyard. "_oaf_ is everything you got to keep your skills up." She grimaced, as if at a bad smell.

"That's oyaji…" Ranma spoke grimacing back. "And y'ere right. It's been a long while since that fat fool has been any real challenge…" he replied, mingled distaste and upset in his voice.

"Well… I enjoyed our bout yesterday, even if I DID tricked you into underestimating me..." she smiled impishly. "How about a true bout now? No chi moves, no maiming or death strikes? Strictly skill. What you say? Up for a real challenge this time?" she added with a broad grim. Curiously, also one full of warmth.

Ranma looked at the girl. She HAD defeated him. He STILL didn't understand why he had gotten so pissed. He didn't lose it like that; he made his opponents loose it, thus giving him the advantage. Being the one too mad to think was a novelty to him, and he still was thinking about it. Also, she had shown some REAL good abilities. And, somehow, she didn't wake his 'I don't fight girls' mode. Or at least, not in a way that he couldn't put it aside for a while... "Why not?" he replied. "Sounds fun." He quipped smiling, jumping into her dojo and walking to stay in front of her. "But I'll want a rain check on that ki blast of yours later…"

"We'll see about that…" she returned teasingly, but warmly.

Soon, both were dancing around the place, trading rapid fire punches and kicks, both smiling greatly in enjoyment as they recognized an equal in the Art.

This time, their fight was a much more balanced one. Ranma kept his cool and was able to analyze the fire head's style better (and being admittedly surprised with the level of skill and adaptability he found, which, pride apart, seemed to be _almost_ at his level…), thus providing both with a greater challenge, stretching their skills and resources as one tried to tag the other. Hiko smiled, being able to enjoy a real spar with of another her age in a long time. Seeing the skills he displayed, she wondered what the result of an all out battle would be. His… 'ace' could give her an advantage, but she was by no means invincible…

Which neither quite realized a the moment, was how much of a morning ritual that sparring would become for both (for Genma's mounting anger at how his 'lazy son skewed his rightful duties as a martial artist' (i.e., trounced him too fast for any reaction of his part, them jumped to her house) to 'gallivate with some woman other than his rightful fiancée' (i.e., practiced with her, instead of letting Akane beat him senseless).), one which would later have others added to it, starting with Akane (though she would get a bit angry first and for a while at their skill levels' difference, the simple knowledge that another girl, a very skilled martial artist, treated her with an equal's respect and was willing to truly help her get better went a LOOOOONNNNGGG way in placating her fire… Of course, the travel there would not be an easy one for either, but that was still in the future…).

What neither paid any attention, as it did not represented any threat to them, was the astonished eyes of the Tendo girls, also draw outside by the loud sounds and music.

Kasumi marveled at the level of skill showed by the two teens as they seemed to dance all over the yard like elements of nature: Fire and Air, one testing, then prodding the other, each sharpening and taunting the other ever higher, and wondered if she should invite the fire-headed girl to share breakfast with them…

Nabiki burned a whole film of pictures from the bout; those photos could give BIG bucks with the Furinkan crowds. She would just have to be careful not to spurn the kind of reaction her sister's pics usually did though.

As she had witnessed the whole exchange, this time, Akane's jealous fury remained abated. Besides, she HAD been trying to act less envious. If only a bit…

_Some time later, on the way to Furinkan High…_

The usual trio from the Tendo dojo had suffered a small change today. Another had joined them in their walk to school.

Hiko had indeed, accepted Kasumi's invitation, but ONLY after, somehow, finagling from the elder Tendo a promise to be her guest tomorrow, alongside the rest of the Tendos and Ranma. After being informed of Genma and Nodoka, the invitation was extended to them as well. Nabiki was drooling inside for this opportunity to peek on the newcomer's house, as it would, no doubt, offer some useful clues to her research activities.

After breakfast, the redhead had jumped over the wall back to her house, stating she had to bathe and change for school. Akane, trying to make up for her previous anger and to see if she could convince her to spar with her later like she had with Ranma, had invited her to walk with them.

Thus leading to current arrangements.

A soothing and exotic blend of rich, velvety scents (which neither girl could say if it was perfume, hair conditioner or some blend of both, save to say that it spoke of care and good taste) came from the fire headed girl, now clad in a standard Furinkan uniform. The only true difference was that hers seemed, someway, somehow, to be a unique haute couture piece, molding her body in ways it wasn't really supposed to. Her rich mane was styled in a rope-like ponytail, cascading down her back and contrasting nicely with her silvery sideburns. A light make-up work (noticed only by the girls) highlighted her face, detailing her pouty soft red lips and making her amethyst eyes seemingly glow. Small gold filigree, green and blue jade earrings dangled softly from her pierced ears and a thin gold chain could be seen around her neck, plunging into her uniform's neckline, but from appearances holding something on it. In a strange oddity, but still managing to look beautiful or her, on her thin waist a light red silky sash spun, and on it a leather sheath, caring her silvery baton.

Nabiki Tendo wasn't one girl to let herself fall prey to silly emotions like petty jealousy, but even the Ice Queen felt a twang of drab feeling around her as she watched the trio 'talk shop', trading technique stories and comparisons. Also, the fire headed girl once again had her Ipod speakers hanging loosely from her neck (in an easy way that showed that that way of using it was a habit), from which many different kinds of music (which spoke of an eclectic, fine cultured taste) spun, making a low background soundtrack for their walk. The good taste in her complements, just as well the money they hinted at, alongside her manners, which spoke of a high, eclectic education, all added to the scenery their new neighbor were. Something wasn't adding up. A person with this kind of money (and scholastic acumen) did NOT need to go to Furinkan High… unless she was trying to keep from calling attention to herself. Hiding from some thing. Or some one…

The middle Tendo wondered again at what monetary venues she could offer, still pondering pro and cons. _Too early… need more info before making a move of any kind…_ she though idly. _Let's let it rest for now. All good things come for those who wait…_ she smirked to herself, deciding on a course of action for the moment.

_Furinkan High front yard..._

As the quartet entered the High school grounds, an old (and rather boring) ritual began once again.

Suddenly (Yeah right!), seemingly out of nowhere (As if!), a young man, dressed in a traditional hakama came forth, bringing groans of distaste on Ranma and Akane.

"Hark! For the gods surely smile upon me on this day, for they send me my fierce Tigress to light my dreary morning!" the school idiot spoke with his usual arrogance, acting as if he was a god among men. "Come to me, my beauteous flower, and let's show the world the true love that springs between us!"

Of the initial Morning Squad, only he truly remained, a solitary loon, still lost in his own little world.

As he got closer, a look of brainless joy in his face, being marred somewhat when he realized Ranma was there as well, a couple of things happened. Some easily noticed. Others not so.

Almost as one action, suddenly Kuno noticed the newcomer, while Hiko seemed to stiffen. While Kuno's reaction was noticed by Ranma and Akane, who had been focusing at him, already in wait for the usual morning beat up, only Nabiki noticed her reaction, and its odd timing. _She reacted to something on Kuno-baby's… but what?_ She wondered to herself.

Hiko's thoughts, on the other hand, were not so calm. _Thousand Hells! He's reeking of madness!_ She realized worriedly. _What kind of crap has him playing with! Or… been exposed to?_ She amended. So far it was too soon to see if the madness was natural, sought after or… _imposed_ on him. Caution was called for. For all she knew, he could be a mole of some kind to sniff her out.

"But what is this that mine eyes behold?" he spoke. "Verily, the heavens truly smile upon their chosen defender, for they send a fire haired angel to bestow their blessings upon me! Come to me, and let us proclaim the love thee came to bestow my humble self!" he proclaimed while posing with his boken held high. Lightning struck, creating a rather imposing sight… for anyone who didn't knew him.

"Sorry, but no dice. I'm ok by myself." She replied, trying for a diplomatic approach.

No such luck.

"Ah! So the fire headed angel wishes to test my mettle!" replied Kuno jovially. "So be it! I challenge you! Should I win, I shall date thee; should you win, I shall grace you with my blessed self!" And joining speech to action, drew his boken and attacked.

Dancing around the kendoist strikes, Hiko spoke in a controlled voice, lightly miffed. "I though I made myself quite clear, oaf. I have no desire whatsoever to date you in any form or way, nor will I be beaten just because you fell like it. Stop this stupidity before someone gets hurt for real."

Again, no such luck.

Kuno kept striking, slashing and thrusting.

Hiko kept avoiding, her face slowly showing greater levels of annoyance at the 'fight'.

Finally, in his eagerness, Kuno unleashed his patented attack. "For my victory, the Thousand Strikes: ATATATATATATATA!" He cried as his bokken seemingly became a blur.

Hiko speed up as well, but in her movement, the chain in her neck got loose and one of the strikes sliced it. Propelling the gold, mother-of-pearl and ivory locket attached to it, and making it land some feet away from the fighters.

"NO!" the fire head screamed.

"Ha! Now you know the true power of the Blue Thunder! Surrender now to my mercies, my beauty!" Kuno gloated.

Humm… wasn't it sunny just a moment ago?

As people looked around, suddenly the whole place seemed to be covered in deepening shadows, while the temperature, once a warm day, cooled fast enough to give shivers. Ranma and Akane looked worriedly at their friend, whose head was bowed, seemingly looking at the locket in the dirt, and feared what would come from it. Both could sense a sudden feel of utter menace exuding from her that would put Saffron to shame. Nabiki looked at the play of shadows around her and felt worry grasp her heart. The joking, cool teen had all but gone, and a very dangerous individual now stood in her place if her instincts were right. And they usually were, in such regard.

All eyes turned to the fire head, who by now seemed to be almost… cloaked in the deepening shadows. Her previously downed head slowly rose, causing many to gasp: her amethyst orbs had changed into two pits of blood red glow. Her fangs seemed longer, the play of light glinting on them casting a dark feral look to her expression. She speared the kendoist with a deadly glare that managed to pass even his delusions as something very, very dangerous. Her voice was soft, like a breeze, but it held a level of cold menace that make a lot of the students pull back in fear. "That locket holds one of my parents' last memories. You are going to hurt for what you did." She spoke conversationally, her fangs sparking ominously in the twilight suddenly surrounding them.

Kuno grimaced some, apparently in shame, trying to come with some response. The "I'm deeply-" never got to completion.

In an almost too fast to follow move, Hiko's right hand slid down to the leather holder and pulled back a silvery baton. It was riddled with red and blue enamel work that reminded some sort of mix of circuitry design and a blood flow chart; two ¾ spheres of pearlized look topped each end. She took it by the middle and shook it light in an up and down move and with a whispered ssshhhhhhhuuuuck, it expanded somehow into a 5ft long staff. Pulses of red and blue light seemed to flow trough the enamel channels in a beating time, in a chilling parody of an active circuitry or blood flow. Those few brave enough to stay close to her (or too afraid to move, least they draw attention to themselves) would later swear that it hummed softly, like staying under an electrical power-line. Spinning it lightly, she pointed it to him and spoke on a last time, with the same chilling voice: "Don't bother. Time to pay."

And blurred.

The massacre that followed purged any idea still lingering on the Hentai squad, as Kuno's screams of pain echoed the yard, pervaded by the occasional snap! of a broken bone.

Five minutes later, Hiko stopped, shrunk her staff back to its baton size, holstering it back and, after spiting onto the collection of bruises previously known as Tatewaki Kuno, turned towards Ranma and the Tendo girls. Nabiki silently handed her the locket and the parted chain, having recovered both during the fight. Only her 'Ice Queen' mask allowed her hands to stay firm, instead of trembling after the brutal beating she saw. Also, the fact that that sense of… _menace_ seemed to have left her helped lots. "Thanks." Was her simple reply, in a tired voice, as she caught the locket and the torn chain, pulling it on her purse. "Can we go on? This… thing made feel filthy…" She added with a grimace, pointing at the broken and bruised teen on the dirt.

Nabiki grimaced as well at the mangled Kuno on the floor. He had gotten a trashing to make an Akane's 'Ranma-no-baka' beatings look like a kindergarten scuffle! "Hum, yeah, sure. I'll see that he is taken to the infirmary and go in myself."

"Thank you Nabiki."

"Oh, no need too…" she grinned, this time with some humor. "Kuno-baby has a tab for this kind of service with me."

"Whatever, just try to keep this mongrel away from me. I may not be so nice… or forgiving, a next time." The fire head replied coolly, before turning and walking into the school building.

The rumor mill just reinforced the already known opinion: Kuno was a moron. Also, that the newcomer wasn't one to piss off lightly…

As she and some of her flunkies dragged Kuno's sorry carcass to the infirmary, Nabiki smiled lightly to herself. Before handing the locket back, she had a chance to open it and take a good look inside.

And of taking a picture of the photos within with her pocket camera. While not sellable material, it would help her track down Hiko's parents IDs and possibly, unlock some of her secrets…

At the main building of Furinkan School, Setsuna Meioh turned off the visor through which she had been watching the fight. If anyone had been looking, she would look like a dark green tinted version of Sailor Mercury's visor. Tapping a small knob on the side of her tiara, she made it disappear, while finishing the recording. It had taken some control to not interfere in the fight when the girl got angry. The level of dark energies she was pumping out were on par with Galaxia at her worst. And that staff… something wasn't quite right about it… She would have to pass her findings to Ami process to see if her suspicions were correct. Nevertheless, she had showed excellent control over her energies, not hurting him in a… permanent way. The Princess would most certainly like to know that. She took her communicator and gave them all a notice to meet later at Rei's shrine and then released her transformation, turning into her civilian identity for the rest of the work day.

_Later, at lunch time in the back yard:_

The group having lunch was an odd one. Instead of Ranma, Hiroshi and Daisuke on one side, Akane, Yuka and Sayuri on the other, Ukyo sometimes around with her portable grill, and Nabiki occasionally looking over while doing business, this time they created a rather large mélange, surrounding their new friend.

A few boys, from their classes and up, came by to offer the fire head flowers, candy and the inevitable date invitation. Politely and gently, but firmly, she dispensed them all, claiming she still wanted some time to know people better before committing to even such… Surprisingly, the great part of them took it graciously. A few grumbled some, but took it nevertheless.

Conversation was flowing easily, until…

"What do you mean, Hiko-chan? Tsubasa-kun is rather cute, I think." Spoke Yuka, grinning inwardly as she noticed in Daisuke's face a quick flash of jealousy.

The two were fast becoming good friends, and talk had been slowly coming over a plethora of subject, from light to a bit serious. Now, taking advantage of the latest invitation, they had been speaking about which boys looked 'cool'.

Hiko shrugged back. "Sorry Yuka-chan, but I don't think so." Looking around, she went on. "To tell the truth, yeah, there are a few cute boys around, but THAT'S the problem. They're BOYS." She spoke, grimacing some. "They still think waaayy too much with their gonads." She finished with a grin, bringing blushing giggles from the girls (even Nabiki, who could not find fault in her assessment as she laughed some), and groans and mild embarrassed looks from the boys. The comment that followed, though, stunned them all into silence, as she grinned some while saying: "Now, a couple of girls here are quite the lookers. That Myuko, for example, has some of the most beautiful legs I've seen in a while-"

The thick silence that suddenly surrounded her made her stop short.

When she looked around, many stunned (and in Akane's case, fearful / upset) looks stared at her back.

"Hum," began a startled and embarrassed Yuka. "Hiko-chan… w-what do you mean by that? Are you…" she stuttered while trying to put words to her suspicions.

"If the word you're looking for is 'lesbian', the answer is no." replied a sighting redhead. "What I meant to say is that some girls here are interesting looking. And the term you are probably looking for, is bisexual Yuka-chan. I like both men and women, and I'm not afraid of saying so." She said, looking peacefully into her friend's eyes.

Yuka looked into that serene amethyst orbs, shivering lightly for a moment. _She's NOT a pervert!_ She thought fiercely to herself. _If she was, she could easily have used me back there…_ _which she didn't. _she continued rationalizing, her line of thought calming her nascent fears, and returning her smile to her friend. Even though, it was weird, really weird. Also, very brave. She had never met anyone so… composed to go on admitting such a thing just like that.

"Bu…but… THAT'S PERVERTED!"

Three guesses on who said that, and the first two don't count.

"And why, pray tell, is that?" Hiko asked tiredly. She was fast getting really upset with this girl self-righteousness and constant anger. It was really starting to get on her nerves. "You don't know me at all, what I have lived through, or what I have learned and saw in my life. So by what standards exactly are you qualified to judge such a thing?" she replied, visibly annoyed.

While Akane sputtered trying to find her voice, Sayuri made the question in many a mind: "Hum… not meaning to be rude but…" she started, a bit uncertain. "How can you be so sure of it? Have you had boyfriends AND girlfriends before?" she asked, between interested and troubled.

The fire head looked nonplussed at the question. "Actually, yes, I did."

"Really?" asked the surprised teen. "Isn't it… weird?" she replied, her face and voice tone showing that the question reflected more total lack of knowledge, allied to a true desire to understand, rather than offense.

"It depend Sayuri. What would YOU consider 'weird'?" the fire head asked back. "Being together with someone you care about? Holding hands? Sharing a hug? A kiss?" replied Hiko. "At what point, does caring becomes love? At what point, does 'proper' becomes improper?" she asked, looking softly at them all. "The bounds of a relationship are not fixed in stone, you know?" she continued, grinning amusedly at some of their expressions. Nabiki was actually digging her nails on her arm to keep from laughing hysterically at her sister and her fiancé's expressions. Ranma looked almost at vapor-lock. And the mingled fear/excitement/embarrassment in the faces of Hiroshi and Daisuke were worth millions!

"Its more like to say that they're like water. They ebb and flow, much like the tides." She finished.

"Humm… Hiko-chan, did you really had a… girlfriend?" asked timidly Yuka.

"Humf!" grumped Akane, finally finding her voice again. "I bet she got here after they found about that perversion!" she spoke angrily.

"Actually, Tendo-san, you're both right and wrong."

The cold, hollow tone with the words were said once again stopped them all. The fire-head looked at Akane with a look of such pain and sorrow in her eyes that even through her anger she realized she had crossed the line rather badly. Her face seemed made of stone as she started speaking in a controlled, cool voice:

"Her name wasNakamura, Nakamura Ayumi. I used to call her 'Ai' (Love), for she was one of the most loving people I have ever met. We were both 13 years old, and I had just changed to her neighborhood school. She was the class president, and took upon herself to help the newcomer get acquainted with the people. We got ever close, until we found we cared for each other more than just friends…" she spoke sadly, her eyes no longer on the here and now.

Nabiki's sharp mind put some pieces together and her suspicions did NOT comforted her. "Something happened, isn't it? Something bad." she asked with a soft voice quite unlike her.

"Yes." A tear glistened on her eye, slowly tracing a path down, soon followed by others. "It seems that our relationship… offended some 'moral guardians', much like Tendo-san here." She spoke coldly. "When… what was left of her was found, even a layman could see what have been done..." She finished, not really paying attention to the shocked pale faces around her and how some of the girls looked sick at the thought. Ranma looked ready to kill someone just on account, a thin dark red aura surrounding him. Her attention, tough, was kept focused on Akane's face. "That should put your mind at ease, Tendo-san…" she spoke sarcastically. "The… 'pervert' got what she deserved, isn't it? Not more than what she looked for, eh? 'Proper' people like yourself can rest easily now that the… 'taint' was 'cleansed', hum?" she said, her voice never rising from a conversational tone. Only the tears on her face and the terrible sorrow on her eyes belied it.

... which where, to the youngest Tendo, worse than a point blank Hiryuu Shouten Ha. Her own face crumpling in tears, she all but folded into herself, barely able to mumble an "I…I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

The rest just looked embarrassed, sorrow and pain earned clarity of thought making its way among them. Akane just cried, her face down in deep shame at her previous words. She had let her usual snap judgments carry her on once more and not only offended someone she had just met, but also insulted a memory of a departed one. Of someone lost to something she despised with all her heart, yet just accepted with her actions and ill spoken words. The hand on her shoulder brought her out of her funk, to look fearfully into the blazing amethyst orbs staring right back at her. It took a few moments to filter to her conscience that though stern, there was neither malice nor anger in her face.

"Let this be a reminder to you, Akane-san." She spoke slowly. "You are a martial artist… YOU, more than many, should be VERY careful of your actions and words. Do not pre-judge people just because they chose a different life path than your own, least you yourself be judged just as harshly."

"Hiko-chan?" started timidly Yuka, trying to defuse the situation.

"Hai?"

"Did…didn't your parents' gave you some hard time for it?" she asked curious. "I mean, being bisexual?" she added, a bit embarrassed.

A soft smile answered her. "Actually, mom didn't mind. Father got a little worried at first, mostly at how others would treat me, but he accepted in the end." She replied. "You see," she elaborated. "because of our art, we are required to reach deep into our hearts, mind and souls. The study of Kage-do passes by delving deep into oneself and confronting every mental, spiritual and emotional aspect of yourself, both good and bad. It gives us at a younger age a much better understanding of ourselves, so we mature earlier than most. But it also makes us a bit more…" she paused in thought. "not exactly volatile, but our emotions run more open than many. It's more complicated than that, but it is ok for a quick explanation. One 'side-effect' of it is that we tend to be more honest about ourselves pretty soon, learning to understand and accept what we are and how we are so as we can reach mastery over it."

After that, the talk veered somewhat, the group asking more about the newcomer's background. Hiko answered their questions seemingly without any problem until…

"What did your parents do anyway?" asked Hiroshi curiously. "The few things you spoke made them seen like some… I don't know, some sort of secret agents?" he spoke, remembering some small comments he heard from the fire head earlier and the day before.

"You may very well be right, Hiroshi-kun." Replied Hiko, to their further surprise. Nabiki had made sure her tape recorder was running some time ago, while suppressing a grin. She couldn't have hoped for a better opportunity to dig more info!

"I don't really know that much about Mom and Dad's work. They never mentioned much to me for security reasons." She began. "What I DO know, and pieced together after a while, was that they worked around the world as 'security consultants', whatever that might entail, to high placed companies and individuals. I grew up traveling around, as we moved from one country to another over the five continents. It DID gave me some advantages, I think: I know people literally EVERYWHERE, and speak, read and write fluently in about 12 languages beyond Japanese." _Actually is a bit more than that but they don't need to know…_ she thought with an inner grin. "From what they told me, they actually met over a 'job assignment'…" She grinned, her fangs flashing impishly.

"How so?" replied Sayuri. This was fun! It looked like some 007 movie story! The others also looked eagerly at her, wanting to know more.

"Well, from what they spoke about, when they met they were 'undercover', working for rival companies in a country, checking the possibility of some maneuvering or such." She spoke, her eyes now sparkling with happiness. "The thing was, a third party targeted them, and they had to blow their cover to each other and pool resources to survive. They managed to do it and win. But neither were able to finish their assignment because of that! From what they spoke, their bosses did NOT like it…" she grinned, smiling mischievously to them. "After that, they crossed each other's paths a few times, and ended helping each other just as well. Eventually, they became friends, than lovers. At that point, they resigned and went solo as freelancers. I was born about 4 or 5 years later."

"Wow!" was the unified reaction. Nabiki smiled. If she grew among people that skilled in security, her knowledge of intelligence gathering and processing would make her a godsend to her operations… She would have to check it further, before committing to such a course. But employing her services would most certainly allow her some measure of control… Hummm… That was something REALLY worth looking into…

"Wow, you really lived an interesting life Hiko-chan!" burbled happily Yuka.

_You have no idea of **how** **much**, my friend…_ thought the fire head ruefully to herself. "Yeah, you can say that…" she grinned. "Actually, I'm pretty sure it was my parent's job that got them…" she spoke after a time, her face saddening. "They left me for a while to do a surveillance job, I think, but got caught. All I know is that the plane they were in crashed in a mountain range in the Himalayas. Thankfully, they had since long provided for me if something like that ever happened." She went on. "Their will emancipated me and established a trust fund to provide for my needs. As long as I keep it within reason, I have enough money to live well and pay my expenses thought high school and college without worries."

At that time, Ranma's martial mind caught up with him. "Hey…!" he suddenly exclaimed, apparently excited about something, drawing the group's attention. "Tell me something:" he started, a look of concentration on his face. "Your art lets you understand emotions better isn't it? And use then in battle, right?" he asked.

"Yes… it's an important part of our training." Hiko responded.

"Also, you spoke that you can put out an aura that can affect other peoples' emotions, like what happened yesterday with Yuka, right?" he went forward.

Hiko smiled knowingly at him, finally realizing were his line of inquiring lead. "I was wondering if you would put it together…" she replied, smirking lightly. "Yes, I did manipulate your emotions on our first fight. You were bored and upset. I, for lack of better term, 'tuned up' your upsetting until it became anger, and kept you from focusing your emotions."

Ranma grinned at her. "You sneak! You totally tricked me out!" he spoke grinning. He should feel at least miffed, but couldn't help but acknowledge a trick well played. She HAD outmaneuvered him. Not that it would be so easy another time, but she was showing herself as a tricky and strong opponent, but also one with notions of honor quite similar to his own. _I think I'll enjoy sparing with her again…_ he thought happily.

"Guilty as charged." The fire head replied with a smile. "Our practice this morning was much more balanced wasn't it?"

"Hell yeah!"

"There you have it. Also, though I can, I loathe manipulating peoples' emotions like that. First, because it's draining to maintain for long without causing harm. I don't like the idea of causing harm just because I can, or because I don't care about the consequences left behind. So I just 'stroked up' your emotions and fought faster."

Nabiki's left half of her brain was all but crooning now. If she could convince her to work for her… or better yet! To teach her how to manipulate people's emotions like that… Watch out world! The Ice Queen of Furinkan was on the loose! There would be NO meeting that she couldn't turn to her advantage, no business deal that she couldn't win… Yen signs sparkled in the middle Tendo's eyes as she half dreamed of possible riches, while the group talked on till the bell rang. Her thoughts as she went back class revolving around one single thing: HOW to entice the fire head to come working with her! She was a veritable gold mine!

Another step in the forging friendship blossoming amongst them was done. The rumor mill grinded happily away, while Kuno passed a good part of the day unconscious on the infirmary, for his classmates, and the rest of Furinkan, delight.

_A secret location, deep in the bowels of the place known as 'Hell'…_

In the beginning, there was only the void. Not emptiness. VOID. Something well beyond the capacity of mortal and deities to describe, even though quite a few (on BOTH sides…) have tried to.

Then… There was LIGHT. And reality and TIME, as we understand, began forming at the creator's hands.

Also... in the very moment light happened, so too, did darkness as well.

For a while (if you can consider uncountable millennia 'a while'…) all was in balance.

Then, the WAR began. WHY it really started, its anybodies guess. Stories, told by divine, demonic and mortal alike abound, but truth, the REAL truth, still remains a mystery but to a very selected few. And those have NEVER spoken about it. But all beings, down and above, felt in their flesh and souls the consequences of such conflict.

And it never truly ended. Not really.

Though, nowadays, it's fought more in the style of a Cold War: some 'minor' (if such term can be applied to realms that are effectively infinite in size…) border skirmishes, a lot of influence trafficking, spying, political maneuvering and backstabbing.

Also… later on, when mortals came to be, and to be more precise, from them, the human beings, they, by their very nature, spilled forth over the land, changing it and being changed by it. (Also, in the process, driving away, peacefully or not, the other races that shared our world.) And, as humans changed, so to did the way they saw and communed with the Creator and his hosts. They gave him (though, calling the Creator a 'him' is actually a lessening as 'he' is beyond genders. But to many, calling the One Above an 'it' sounds too disrespecting, so…) as many names as they themselves were.

And to reflect this fracturing under, the Heavens also split, into Pantheons. What the mortals never truly got (but a very enlightened few), was that, even if they LOOKED different from each other to their respective faithful, all deities still came from the same source, no matter which name they used to define it, and still answered to it as an unified whole.

And… as the light split, so too, did the darkness.

Only that, unlike their counterparts, they well and truly split, reflecting (or would it be the other way around?) the mortal races' political, visual and philosophical divisions. (Who, by the way, eventually became Hell's preferred paws in their struggle against Heaven.)

Hell became a slew of far too many kingdoms, oftentimes split by race, others by power, sometimes by circumstance, many more by force. Alliances, betrayals and politicking at a level that would turn Machiavelli and Richelieu green with envy still ARE commonplace. (As a matter of fact, if you look closely, you _might_ even find one or the other down there…)

But…

Even if it's fractured, all Hell, as a whole, still answers, in one way or the other, directly or indirectly, by hook or by crook, or even, sheer POWER, to one single being.

It, for it uses any gender as it wills, though its preferred appearance is what one would consider male (with the looks to make any woman and a few men swoon…), has as many names as there are stars in the sky. Maybe even more.

But a few are more commonly known and used: First of the Fallen, the Dark One, Prince of Lies, the Deceiver, the Adversary… the list go on to infinity. But two are closer than any others to him in particular: the one given to him by his father (even if he would NEVER, under any circumstance, admit it to ANYONE at all): Sammael. And the one he's know by many in all the realms: Morningstar. Lucifer Morningstar.

And right now, the undisputed ruler of the underworld was doing something much of his servants would blink at seeing: he was having an afternoon tea and biscuits with another. In accordance to the situation, he sported a light casual ensemble of dark blue tweed pants and a light green 'v' necked pullover, slightly modified to allow his huge feathery wings through. To any mortal looking, aside from the obvious wings, he would look like golden blonde man, hair falling in fashionably disarrayed ringlets to his shoulders, about 6ft tall, athletic though trim of body with light cerulean eyes. His fair face would make the dream of many a lady… until they had a chance to REALLY look into his eyes; and see the dark cold abyss of sheer hatred and malice that resided there staring hungrily right back at them.

Also, of course, the fact that the tea was made from deadly poisonous leafs and got a few drops of virgin blood 'for flavor', and the biscuits of powdered sacrificed baby bones and fat would point out to something dreadfully wrong…

But it was the principle of the thing, you see?

On the other side of the table, a stunning ash blond wild haired example of feminine perfection looked at him with laughing deep blue eyes. Quite UNlike him, but very much like any one of her kind, she was not dressed, but caressed by wisps of translucent blue, purple and green gauze, all giving tantalizing looks of the perfect tanned body underneath. Also, the fact that she sported two small cute dark gray horns on her brow, a pair of dark purple bat wings (now neatly folded) and a drake like mauve tail (which kept turning to and fro much like a satisfied cat's) indicated that she wasn't your average next corner girl.

"So, are you certain of it?" the ruler or Hell spoke.

"Absolutely, Sammy." The blonde replied playfully, bringing a small frown that quickly stopped her more playful tirades. There were lines one should never cross, and playing with the First Of The Fallen's 'pet' name was one such lines. Her voice turned more formal while she straightened some, realizing that she might have crossed the line.

"Mom's pawn killed the pair, but they managed to secure the girl's escape and cloak it. Big sister's was, if nothing, a perfectionist in EVERYTHING she did." She added, smiling a fanged hungry smile to him. _Still, I don't know WHY she had such a martial arts fetish…_ she wondered to herself. _It isn't as if we're defenseless or anything, we're high demons, but all this punching and kicking and slashing is DEFINITELY not for me. Like the mortals are sooo found of saying: 'I'm a lover, not a fighter'..._ She smirked lightly. _But I have to hand it to her, she was good…VERY good…_

"I take it then Alliara did not like her prey giving her the slip like that?" he replied with a soft smile on his lips.

"That's putting it mildly." The blonde replied dejected. "She literally sucked a whole harem dry in an anger tantrum! And that is not counting the ones she literally ripped apart in rage… It'll take us weeks to replace all those hundreds of slaves she destroyed…" She finished with a grimace. Most certainly that 'collecting' job would fall to her.

After a few moment's pause, the beautiful fallen angel spoke once again. "Very well. This should give us a few extra months to work with. Keep her under an as close look as you can and report to me as soon as something is found. I'll use some other resources I have to look into it as well. Succeed, and I'll guarantee your bid for the throne Denara."

Of course, left unspoken was the alternative. There was no need to.

Besides, the succubus princess Denara KNEW, with the whole of her dark being, that the course of action her mother was taking, if left unchecked, could very well lead to things worse than Ragnarok. It could lead to the TRUE end of all. Which was one of the many reasons that had made her betray her mother and queen to Sammael and work directly to the Dark Prince.

Of course, edging her bet in her bid for the throne against her other sister/brothers (and whatever the new upstart of the week was) was nothing to sneeze at either, and making sure that the supreme ruler of Hell saw her as loyal subject could garner some powerful political allies, should she walk carefully enough.

Lucifer left not much later, after finishing some small details with her. It left her with some free time on her hands, making her mind move towards a subject that had puzzled, confused and intrigued her of late: her late elder sister Merianna.

Succubae, as an infernal race, are counted among the 'high' demons for their powers; Hell's nobility, so to speak. What it's **not **so known, it's that among such high demons, they were some of the weakest, their abilities laying more into the fields of manipulation, seduction and magic weaving than the other demons sheer physical might. What made their existence somewhat depend on how well they were able to play one side against the other, oftentimes having to endure the other Lord's 'good will' to remain free.

About almost five thousand years ago, when her sister was a young demoness, she had a rather… unpleasant encounter with a Balor. She survived by sheer dumb luck, as the Hell Lord was more in the mood for 'playing' as it was, than simply gutting her for her 'defiance'.

Unlike others, though, she didn't let it go. She vowed to pay him back in kind, and found a way into Midgard in search of such. For the next 2,000 years, she roamed the Earth, learning whatever she could of the mortal's martial and esoterical knowledge. When she had left, she was just another succubus. When she returned, she was a warrior. A mistress of the one of the first true demonic martial arts: the Yami-no-Tsume (Claw of Darkness). And, as she had vowed, she paid the Balor in kind. His severed head, after she had beaten him around for quite a while to within an inch out of its life, and then feasted on his smoking heart, would be the first of a few to decorate the Succubus' queen throne room of Skarshantein. For the next couple millennia, she became mother's first and primary enforcer, and someone to be VERY wary of in Hell's domains. Some other succubuses and incubuses, buoyed by her example, sought out the knowledge in the Arts (especially hers) to compliment their natural abilities.

But none ever took it to the lengths her sister did. She would return to earth from time to time and scour around the countries in search of more techs, more knowledge, anything that would help hone and built her skills. Oh, she still was more than capable of seducing others as she pleased. Actually, oftentimes she WOULD seduce a warrior or master in order to extract any relevant piece of know-how she thought useful, just for the hell of it. Also, the fact that once those masters died, they became Hell's thralls, lending their abilities to them, wasn't anything to sneeze at. But she was, unlike the lot of them, a warrior. Denara didn't understand, nor had any intention of pursuing such a path, but she respected her sister's powers and abilities, thought some of her notions of… 'honor', were quite odd indeed.

Soon after her return and sound defeat of the seemingly unbeatable Balor, and under the influence of her actions thereafter, their kingdom would grow to became one of the true powers in Hell, the sex demons learning how to employ the Art in such a way that would make shinobi green with envy, and more than willing to sign their souls and loyalty over to THEM in return of such edges! (The greater influx of fresh, powerful souls had been quite nice, come to think of it…) Knowledge was power, and they became the experts in finding and exploiting such. Even other Great Lords of Hell began to come to them to seek their enemies' secrets and to protect their own. The dark warriors of Skarshantein became feared and respected. Face-to-face, one-to-one, one of the greater demons could still kill them. But from the shadows, with their knowledge of poisons, surprise attacks and backstabbing… few could stand to them. Let alone survive.

_I wonder if that wasn't the true reason behind mother's actions…_ Denara thought. _After all, if she didn't have come across so many information, got so hungry for more and more… maybe she would have kept to herself. But them again, our kingdom wouldn't be the power it is nowadays… nor worth the trouble of planning as I'm having to do…_ she grinned to herself.

_I just wish to be near mother when she finds out that big sister not only taught Yami to Hiko, but combined it with Tendoko's Art of the Hikari-no-Ken (Fist of Light) to make a even deadlier Art, that so called 'Kage-do'…_ she smiled a fanged grin. _I wonder who will survive the fight… Well, either way, I win the throne. I just LOVE win-win scenarios! _

The demoness smiled, looking out of the winds of her hideout tower on the skirts of the kingdom, just south the border with Nifleheim. Soon, satisfied laughter could be heard echoing through it.

AN: From the design on the manga, the dojo is actually isolated from all sides, but for the purpose of the story we'll assume that it has one left neighbor house (In one image I have of the Dojo's lot, standing in the front door looking at the house, you would see the Dojo to your right and the (in)famous koi pond (over which the Saotomes 'spar' every morning) to the left). That house would have been bought by Hiko's parents little ago (Considering NO one in his right mind would stay that near the dojo, it actually was a bargain! -).


	6. Chapter 5 Bussines And Amazons, Part 1

"To see a world

in a grain of sand,

and Heaven in a

wildflower;

Hold Infinity in the

palm of your hand,

And Eternity in an hour."

William Blake (1757-1827)

* * *

**04 – Business And Amazons, part 1**

_**The following happens during the length of a single day, in different parts of Great Tokyo**_

_Nerima-ku, Nerima-sho _

_About a little over two weeks later…_

With a speed that could only be achieved in Nerima, pretty soon the newness of Hiko's coming wore out and she was incorporated into the complex dynamics of the place, her 'oddness' subsumed into the ward's inherent chaos.

Of course, her presence did brought some changes…

Now, a foursome walked towards Furinkan High. The fire head had become friends with the Tendo girls and Ranma and now routinely joined them in the morning run. Nabiki, though she usually preferred to go a bit early to deal with her cronies, had taken the time to walk with then so to get to know Hiko better. And much to her surprise, the younger girl soon earned her respect, and much more surprising, the beginnings of her friendship. Which wasn't to say that she stopped her efforts in knowing more about her and her past. More like she was trying be more careful and discreet about it.

The middle Tendo smirked at the banter between her sister and the fire head, both arguing fiercely. The only thing that made her not worry about it was the hidden smiles both teens sported at some time or another during the heated discussions, proving it to be more one egging the other than any true quarrel. _If I didn't knew that Akane was so straight I would think those two were lovers! They argue like a married couple!_ She though, holding back a laugh.

Ranma, wisely enough, stayed silent, glad for one he wasn't the one to deal with Akane's temper. _Danm, how can they keep on bitching on like that?! Thank Kami she's off my case this time…_ He thought to himself while looking at Akane's angry face. Even though… in a really strange way, he KNEW the discussion wasn't all that serious. If it was, they would have gone at it already, as it had happened a couple of times, one challenging the other to a 'spar' after class... Of course, he would NEVER say it out loud, but the beatings Akane got were too funny. Hiko seemed to be using a lighter variation of his father's taunting ways to spur Akane into applying herself more in her training. And amazingly, it was working. The fire head stayed just a bit above her level all the time, not so higher she would feel overwhelmed or insulted, but enough to provoke Akane into expanding her skills to reach her. And every time she got closer, Hiko would up the notch a bit higher. Akane's skills had really improved during this last weeks. Also, their morning spars were great! It had been a long while since he'd got a sparring partner that good! Ryoga's just as good but couldn't be quite counted upon, lost more often than not.

And the baka panda's expression at his quick trouncing of him to jump the wall and go for a real spar every morning had been priceless!

Meanwhile, Nabiki was thinking to herself. Her inquires had panned out some info on the fire head's past but too few things so far. Her parents seemed to be Akito and Mary-anne Akasei, former security officers of the American FBI and NSA, she being, like her father (apparently a Japanese brought up in the US), a dual-citizenship individual. She managed to find out some entries describing the couple's other employments all over the world as 'security consultants', oftentimes alongside their child, if the school transfers paned out. One of the longest ones were one during two and a half years in England, underan organization named 'Hellsing'. All her inquires about returned zip. Nada. For all intents and purposes, England didn't know anything about Hellsing's existence. Which served to tell her that, whatever they were, and did, had to be high top. Some similar records, buried under virtual TONS of red tape abounded, alongside the fact that some parts of hers and her parents' files were sealed under VERY high security, need-to-know basis, could be taken as a hold-out of their previous 'jobs'. But as Hiko had mentioned, she probably really knew people EVERYWHERE. Nabiki's thoughts returned to the dinner she, her family and the Saotomes enjoyed at her house. It really was intriguing…

**_-Flashback-_**

_The Tendos and the Saotomes stood on the door of their new back neighbor. Kasumi, always the polite one, rang the bell, while Genma and Ranma looked around bored under Nodoka's eye and Soun tried to look dignified. Nabiki and Akane looked around, waiting to enter. All wore slightly better clothing, befitting an outing._

_Steps were heard and the door opened, revealing their hostess. Hiko's hair was styled into a fat braid, her silvery side burns free framing her elfin face. She wore an ocean blue translucent short-sleeved chemise over a black silk tank-top and kaki knee-length shorts, the entire assemble showing good taste, being very attractive on her without being offensive, although one could see by Nodoka's expression she found it a bit too much for the girl. Also, noticing parts of her back tattoo peeking from underneath made her eyebrow rose in question. Kasumi also noticed, but her expression betrayed nothing of what her opinion might be._

_"Welcome to my humble abode." Spoke the fire head curtsying impishly. Then her demeanor turned serious for just an instant, almost too fast to be noticed by any but Nabiki. "I bid you welcome into my house at this time. Enter freely and in peace." She intoned formally, bringing her hands together in front of herself, to then step back, motioning then inside._

_The gardens were well taken care off, and showed a bit of eclecticism as it wasn't exactly a traditional Japanese garden, but all other elements were carefully and tastefully mixed, not overdoing. A stone path led to the house proper, while to the right a 6ft tall hedge fence isolated access to that side of the garden. An open door-like space with a wood half-door showed a laundry shed and clothing lines. The left side bore low cut grass, a few flower and tree beds, many of them fruit bearing, and another koi pond, this one taking the angle of the property's wall._

_The house was just about the same size and general plan as the Tendo's, Soun remembering that his former neighbor had asked for a copy of his house plants, having enjoyed the layout, but, as they entered it was possible to see that some modifications had been made since. The interior of the house showed the same eclectic good taste in the decor: typical Japanese arrangements side by side with art objects and knickknacks seemingly from everywhere in the globe. African ebony masks, Greek sculptures, American photo-panels created a welcoming air to the house. Some potted plants and flowers gave the house a fresh, colorful atmosphere._

_Following their hostess they came to a dinner room much like the Tendo's, a low table already tastefully prepared with plates, silverware and glasses, an open engawa (verandah) to the garden and its koi pond providing cool air. A mélange of delicious smells spoke of the dinner ahead._

_To the side of the room they were taken into, open panels revealed a high-end home theater room, tastefully decorated with colorful cushions of different sizes in front of a light cream colored wood stand that occupied the whole wall, pulling attention to the 50' plasma TV at the center, providing a warm toasty atmosphere to it. Soft instrumental music poured from the speakers. To one side of the sound system, the small antenna of a wireless PC system denounced that she probably made the house into a hotspot for broadband Internet._

_Nabiki's eye's lit like gold coins. The fire head most certainly had some serious money to spend!_

_"Please, do sit down." Spoke Hiko. "I'll bring something to tide over while the dinner finishes cooking." She smiled rather impishly again. "I hope you are not biased against foreign cuisine. I love sushi as much as the next girl, but living abroad for almost 3/4 of my life made me learn to appreciate the skills of other people."_

_Kasumi smiled broadly. She did have an appreciation for foreign recipes, which she had gained from her mother. Nabiki also liked them, and, to a lesser degree, Akane. After their mother's passing though, finances had been too tight for some of the more… exotic cuisine. Having a chance to indulge herself guiltlessly in quite a while was good._

_Nodoka, while being something of a traditional Lady, weren't so gung ho not to taste (and enjoy) gaijin food._

_Soun had enjoyed her late wife's culinary forays but on a rule, didn't much care for it any way._

_As for the two human vacuums… In Ranma's mind, as long as it wasn't Akane's food, it should be at least edible, if not good. As for Genma, his thoughts weren't that much different from his son's._

_The fire head walked away for a moment, the returned with a bread basket and two bowls; one holding a light brown paste, the other, a mix of vegetables looking vaguely like a stir fry. Setting then on the table, she pointed at the mix first: "This is caponata, an Italian entrée. The other is babaganouche, an Arab paste. The caponata can be eaten much like a salad, though I particularly prefer to do it much like eating babaganouche:" she explained, while tearing a piece of the flat, thin bread on the basket and pouring some of the mix on it, to eat it. "just like so. Please try it; I think you'll find it quite tasty." She spoke, smiling gracefully to them._

_Kasumi looked at her hostess and for a moment, saw very clear the earnest desire to please on her face. Thus she took a piece of the bread and tried the babaganouche. The soft, slight bitter taste of the paste brought a pleased smile to her face. "Hiko-chan, that's very good!" she exclaimed. "Did you made this yourself?"_

_The answering smile was radiant, while the others began trying too, finding the food, though odd tasting, to be actually very good. "Hai! I learned from a friend while we were on Egypt." She said, while pointing to a 6 by 10 framed photo on the wall, which bore the fire-head hugging a dusky skinned teen, both clad with T-shirts and jeans. The other girl was apparently embarrassed by something, though you could not say it much by her face, covered by the usual arab chador (veil). To the side, a fiery red headed caucasian woman with laughing sienna eyes stood in the arms of a dirty blonde blue eyed asian man, both wearing a light khaki military style uniform, bearing a remarkable resemblance to Hiko, and a dusky skinned, hawk faced man in Bedouin apparel, sided by two women in a more traditional clothing. The adults were smiling indulgently at what seemed like a pranking pair of teens. "That was Aysha, and those besides her are her father Ahmad, her mother Shalima and Ahmad's second wife Neruth. That was the only picture of her that I EVER managed to get her out of that awful caftan of hers!" she said, giggling at the memory._

_At some of the people curious/intrigued looks she explained. "Ahmad is Bedouin, and a very traditional one. Among his people, that kind of clothing and multiple marriages are the norm."_

_Hiko looked at the picture, smiling sadly for an instant, to then turn to the three adults. "I'm afraid my good sake have finished, but with this wine goes better. Would like some? I have also water, tea and fruit juice (mostly OJ, lemon and passion fruit). I'm afraid I'm not much for soft drinks…" she said apologetically._

_The adults complied with her offer of wine, while Akane asked for some OJ and Ranma preferred tea. Hiko rose to get the proffered items when Kasumi spoke, her housekeeping instincts prodding her ahead. "Hiko-chan, would you mind me helping?"_

_The fire head smiled softly back. "I couldn't impose such on you Kasumi-chan, you're my guest."_

_"Oh no! Not at all, Hiko-chan, I don't mind helping at all!" replied the eldest Tendo smiling brightly._

_"In that case… then yes. Thank for your kindness."_

_"Oh, it's nothing!" she spoke rising as well._

_Following her hostess, Kasumi walked a path almost automatic for her, so similar the layout was to the Tendo house to the kitchen, admiring how this house strong 'wa' already resonated in synch with it's new mistress. It seemed as if the house and she were one… (which she would learn later were quite the truth…) As she entered the room, the housekeeper in her nodded approvingly: The kitchen was slightly bigger than hers, though not by much, well equipped with modern appliances and spotlessly clean. Over the fire, a large metallic recipient, similar to a Chinese wok smelled like sea food, while beside it another looked like some sort of pasta. Looking closer, she recognized a penne alla putanesca recipe, which brought a smile to her face. It actually was one of the first foreign recipes her mother ever taught her._

_Coming closer, Hiko opened slightly the oven, allowing her to notice two other plates heating inside: one with a chicken, the other appearing a green lasagna. Smiling to herself, the fire head nodded. "Almost done." She spoke, lowering the heat. "Give it five more minutes and it's only the work of bringing it to the table." Coming to a two door refrigerator, she opened it and took a pitcher full of OJ and two bottles of Germany white wine._

_Returning to the table, the pair lay down their bottles and pitchers and Hiko opened the wines, serving first the elders, than offering to Nabiki and Kasumi (which only the middle Tendo accepted), before serving herself a glass._

_Throwing slightly, Nodoka couldn't help herself. "Hiko-chan, not meaning to impose, but aren't you a bit young for drinking?" said the Saotome matriarch, her voice a perfect blend of mothering concern and elderly disapproval._

_The fire head smiled back. She had faced such reactions before. "Nodoka-dono, I mean no disrespect, but, you see, I am a legal adult by my parent's will." She spoke. Before Nodoka could reply, she went on. "Besides that, my parents taught me about drinking a long time ago. My father told me something I never forgot: that he'd rather have me learn about it, and what my limits were inside our home, were they could help me should I ever extrapolate, than have me do it on the street, surrounded by Kami-sama knows who…" She finished, with a smile that said quite clear that, though polite, that was HER house and HER rules. "And more," she added. "I only drink a glass when I eat, and only with guests. Drinking alone is… not a viable option…" She finished, her face clouding some._

_"Please forgive me, Hiko-chan, I didn't mean to drag some unpleasant memories…" Nodoka replied diplomatically, a bit shame faced at realizing her worry made her forgot the girl being an orphan who lived on her own. Maybe she could visit sometimes…_

_"No at all, Nodoka-dono. It's actually good to see that people do care."_

_After a couple of minutes of small talk, the fire head rose again, this time automatically followed by Kasumi. The duo returned moments later, the elder Tendo caring two bowls of salad, each clearly carefully done, while Hiko carried the wok and a metal grid to put it on._

_Grinning, she took the cover away, to reveal a deliciously smelling mix of colored rice and many different kinds of sea food, and even a few pieces of what looked like chicken and pork meat. Arrayed artfully around the dish, were many big shrimps. "This is a Spanish dish named-" before she could finish, Akane squealed happily._

_"PAELLA! How did you know?! It's been AGES since last I eat it!" she spoke happily._

_"Actually, I did not. Do you know it then?" she replied smiling._

_Smiling sadly a bit at the mixed feelings it brought, Akane answered: "Our… mother loved to cook, even foreign dishes. She taught us some before… she passed on. Each of us had a 'special' dish. Kasumi loved putanesca, Nabiki had a thing for a Portuguese fish dish…"_

_"It's called Codfish 'Gomes de Sá' style." Offered the middle Tendo._

_"Yeah, that. Mine was paella. I haven't had one almost… for ages…" she stopped herself, between sad and embarrassed, her eyes tearing some. The last time she had actually tasted such was a bit after her mother died. She didn't have the heart to ask Kasumi to make it. She knew her sisters were much in the same way, though she had heard Nabiki and Kasumi talking about this or that restaurant that served such fare from time to time._

_Hiko smiled understandingly at Akane, before going on, an impish grim broking in her elfin face. "Weeellll… unfortunately I don't have 'Gomes de Sá' on the menu today, but I DO have penne alla putanesca for after the paella, alongside some coq au champagne and moussaka. But," she said, turning to Nabiki. "if you don't mind joining me for dinner, say… Friday night, I can certainly provide you with it…" She spoke, winking to the middle Tendo suggestively. "Some 'nice' company to dinner is always welcome." She added flirtatiously._

_"Hummmm, why not? Far be it from me to refuse such a gallant invitation…" replied Nabiki likewise. "Though I'm sort of curious: I have eaten coq au champagne, but I don't know this… 'mouuskana'?" she asked, tumbling a little over the name._

_"Moussaka, Nabiki-chan, moussaka." Replied Hiko, gently correcting her pronounce. "It's a Greek dish. Basically, it resembles an Italian lasagna, but instead of slices of pasta, it's made with fried thin slices of aubergine."_

_Both turned out to be actually pretty good, as she found out. The paella was great, and Akane eat almost as much as Ranma, who found out that he actually LIKED paella. Her little sister's eyes glowed like stars when she fixed a late plate for taking home. _(**_Must remember to arrange something to repay her…_** she though to herself, looking at the bantering teens.)_ Proving herself a careful hostess, when she brought out the pasta and meats she ALSO had brought red wine to accompany._

_A few hours latter, after they were satisfied, she brought dessert: home made tiramisu and a German cake of chocolate and damask, which she called 'sachertorte'. Both excellently made. Hiko's culinary skills could certainly give Kasumi a good run for her money (though she had not seen how she fared with more 'traditional' food…). And with coffee and a few different liquors to wash it down, some of it she had only heard about: Parfait D'Amour, and Amarula. Alongside Cointreau, FranAnjelico and Moussart, it finished the smorgasbord with golden key to her opinion._

_The only thing that could be said as an apart was when her father and 'Uncle' Saotome drew their smoking apparels. Hiko's reaction was_ _swift:_

_"I'm sorry, Tendo-dono, Saotome-dono," she had spoken. "but while I don't mind smoking, I must request that you do not do it inside my home. The engawa is open, though, if you must." She said smiling politely but firmly._

_The men graciously acceded, even if Genma had grumbled a bit._

**_-End Flashback-_**

The women made small talk for a while more. Hiko and Kasumi traded some recipes and some info about the neighboring food markets, and in the days that followed, could be seen occasionally shopping together. Auntie Nodoka imparted some house keeping tips, praising her good taste. Hiko also made a point to try her most to keep Ranma talking and participating too, mostly, telling some of the 'adventures' (if such could be said) about how some of the art objects around then had come into her family's possession and comparing training regimens. Nabiki smiled to herself remembering how the fire head baited the poor jock into talking over and over again. She knew that Ranma would NEVER admit to anyone, but she could bet GOOD money he had had a good time as well. She got surprised with her knowledge of international economy and politics, being almost on par with hers. And she DID knew a few inside data, apparently from some of her travels, that got her really interested.

The dinner Friday had actually been very good. The 'Gomes de Sá' was delicious, and she managed to find some light white wine. The two had talked long into the night, she confirming that the fire head was a cultured and interesting conversationalist. The two had even flirted a little, teasing each other over their 'dinner date', though Nabiki was pretty sure that Hiko knew she wasn't after anything serious at the time.

But all that had only confirmed her suspicions: Hiko may not be as loaded as the Kunos (unless she was aiming for a really low profile), but she most certainly had some serious money to spend. Also, her skills and connections made her much more useful as an ally, even as a possible partner, than as a cash cow. All the intel she uncovered up to now pointed that antagonizing her were NOT an healthy option.

Now how to propose it to her…

* * *

_Furinkan High, first class interval after lunch…_

Hiko sat by the window, lost in thought. Although she was a little… ok, make that a lot, upset with Kuno's annoying ways, today she was more upset with herself. After the first beating, the moron had stayed home for a couple of days, and when returned, had tried to do something similar to what had been done to Akane. Nabiki was fast enough to tell her, so, right after the IDIOT left the gymnasium, she entered and put and end to it right then and there. He had more or less left her to herself, until today. _'Probably was finishing to heal…' _she thought upset.

Alright, no big deal. Just beat him up again.

Only, this time she almost lost her temper. Really lost it. A timely interruption by Ranma, who thankfully seemed to have noticed it, avoided anything… extreme, but it left a bad taste in her mouth. She haven't… lost her balance like that in quite a while. It had taken her the good part of an hour to regain a semblance of balance, and she could still feel the eyes of her friends (in spite of being there for so little, their concern felt good to her. Yuka's almost mothering worry tasted honeyed to her senses) on her, ready to offer their help. It not only warmed her, but helped in ways they couldn't even conceive.

Another problem she realized it was the deep yawning pit into her stomach demanding satisfaction, though it really had anything to do with food. _'At least, conventional ones…'_ she smirked darkly to herself. She hadn't stayed this long without nourishment for Kami knows. Tonight she WOULD have to feed, least her hunger start to get the better of her. _I really should have noticed something wasn't quite right when I entered the school at the sound of 'Bad To The Bone'… _she grinned mirthlessly to herself. _I should have learned by now to pay attention to this kind of omen… _

She found next to impossible to pay attention to her surroundings, her thoughts bouncing like a rubber ball inside her head. Everything and anything. Then, one thought came to the forefront of her mind. As a matter of fact, one that had recurringly returned to her attention lately. Ai. Ever since that talk with Akane, she found out that her memories of their time together kept surfacing on her mind. She signed softly. Remembering her always left her somewhat melancholic. Her long soft, dark bluish hair, flowing like water through her fingers. How her pretty dark blue eyes scrunched like so when she didn't used her glasses… She had had other girlfriends after, but Ai, she had been her first. The first person she loved enough to open completely, scared as she was at the time. _Make that utterly terrified..._ she thought ruefully to herself. _And yet… even after knowing, she still stood by me… still allowed me to love her, and loved me back…_

A small tear made its way down her eye. A hand absently wiped it off. She never found who had taken Ai from her… But she would one day. And on that day, someone would pay... She wouldn't be satisfied with ANYTHING less than making whatever monster took her live to beg for death. Many times…

"Ummm, excuse me?" came the soft, timid voice from her side.

Turning from her thoughts (and incidentally, making her eyes stop from glowing a dark purple…), she realized that a pale, hollow-cheeked boy was by her. "Yes? You're… Gosunkugi, right?" she asked, straining her mind to identify him.

Gos just looked for a moment as if God himself had blessed him. _She…she knows my name! _he thought excitedly. _She didn't ignore me!_

Schooling his expression back, he spoke: "Ha-hai, Hiko-san, Gosunkugi Hikaru."

"What can I do for you, Hikaru-kun?" the fire head asked politely.

"An, er, hum… do you know you have magic on you?" he finally spoke timidly, almost as if waiting for her to beat him.

She looked sharply at him. "What makes you say that?" she replied while making a light scan to probe his reasons.

"Well… I felt it when you first came…" replied the pale boy. "It took me a while to see if I wasn't imaginating things…" he spoke. "Are you truly a magician?" he asked eagerly. "Can you teach me? Please?" he asked imploringly.

_Hummmm…_ she thought. _He HAS some potential. NO training at all though… Must be hard to be an adept without anyone to guide you around…_ she cringed at the thought. Smiling lightly, she replied: "Hikaru-kun… Let's talk shop…" she finished, grinning impishly. _Maybe this will help me keep occupied till later… _

And that was the beginning of would be later on be named the 'Magical Nerima Wreaking Crew'. Others would eventually join in, but Hiko, (a.k.a. Firebrand) and her apprentice Gos (a.k.a. Voodo Spike) would be remembered as their two founders.

For Hikaru, it was a moment he would never forget. When he found someone willing to treat him as a person, not as an object on the background. Someone he would be proud to call friend, and sensei.

But that would come later…

* * *

_Minato-ku, Juuban-sho _

_Hikawa Shrine, later afternoon…_

The Senshi were reunited once more. Unlike many previous meetings, this time they all, Setsuna included, arrived at more or less the same time. After a couple of minutes of simple, warm conversations to put the gossips up to date, the elder senshi motioned for her companions to gather round for more serious business.

"Princess," began Setsuna. "as per your orders I did not kept any active surveillance over our newcomer, but in name of security I established my presence in her school as another counselor so to keep an eye on things."

Usagi looked a bit upset, as both knew that her actions were bordering insubordination, but she also knew that such would most probably happen. Setsuna had worked solo for millennia now and were bound to act in such a way time and again. Nevertheless, it seemed she kept cautious, so maybe no harm was done. "So Setsuna," she replied, a bit of her annoyance in her voice. "did you find anything useful without compromising my orders?" she finished looking straight at the eldest senshi.

"Indeed I do Princess." She replied. "Ami, put the Mercury PC out please, I need you to analyze some data."

After Ami did it, she transformed. Sitting by the PC, she touched a knob on her earring, bringing out her visor.

And surprised looks from everyone.

"You got a visor too?!" were the general call.

"Actually, all of us have." Was the response.

Massive facevault.

Rising up, Usagi just annoyedly asked: "And you kept this to yourself until know because?"

Embarrassed, Setsuna replied: "Usagi… Princess… until very recently, I had protocols to follow… Orders set out by your mother, Queen Serenity, on how and what to give to each Senshi. The Chaos that is coming has thrown all that to the window. As such, I'm gonna give some extra instruments and talismans that were kept in reserve for a necessity for all of you. I'm also will be unlocking some protocols on your powers."

Usagi looked at Setsuna, for once getting the unsaid at once: things were so up in the air, that they would need EVERY available resource to seen it through. "Very well, Pluto. Do what you must." She answered, her Princess persona coming forth.

Nodding, the eldest senshi pulled a thin silvery cord from the side of her tiara, plugging it into a side-jack of the Mercury PC. She then typed something rapidly and the little technomagical marvel chirped once, after which a voice was heard:

**"Voice access request:**

**Authorized User: Sailor Pluto.**

**Id # 134145 Alfa.**

**Waiting voice and eye password for finalizing request."**

Ami's eyebrow twitched while looking her fellow senshi speak a short phrase in an unknown language and have her left eye scanned. "It has a voice address system? And you NEVER thought of telling me that?!" she asked Setsuna. That fact that the mildest of the senshi was now producing a battle-aura (sure, only a thin reddish glow, but there nevertheless) warned her that her words should be carefully chosen.

"I'm deeply sorry Ami, but unless directly ordered by the Queen or the Princess," (carefully leaving out the fact that Usagi did NOT knew.) "I was forbidden to tell the full capabilities of your equipment. You were supposed to slowly get to know it as your experience grew. If the situation weren't this dire, I wouldn't have showed you guys this for quite a while now."

"Then Setsuna, as your sovereign, I order you to fully disclose such capacities. If it can give us the chance we need to save this world, then we're taking it." spoke Usagi.

It was on times like this that the senshi truly became in awe of their leader. Usagi, even now, was mostly like any other teen on the planet. But whenever the fate of the Light was on line, she… changed. The happy, supportive, ice-cream vacuuming teen became the regal leader they saw ruling Crystal Tokyo. It was times like these that kept their faith, and hope, blazing forth anew.

Setsuna, still plugged into the Mercury PC, nodded back and issued a command: "Computer, download file 'surveilance#1'. Engage Holo-mode and replay file. Also, run full spectral analysis on any alpha class individuals and/or artifacts."

**"Compliance."**

While the PC did its job, Setsuna turned back to them and answered the next question: "Alpha class is a code for anything suspicious of presenting non-standard human capacities. Ami, I'll need you to run a full scan on the data I got from her, specially her staff. I don't want to say more now least I taint your perceptions. I need to confirm a suspicion I got."

**"Download complete. Commencing holo-presentation and scan."**

The PC's screen glowed, sending an upwards a spear of light that opened into a meter wide sphere, within which Hiko's coming and fight at Furinkan High replayed. As it ended, to the exception of the Outers (sans Hotaru), Mamoru and Makoto, all senshi were pale. Hotaru and Minako were actually a bit green. Curiously, Usagi only nodded, as if receiving confirmation of something already known.

"Danm…" swore Haruka softly. "Setsuna, you said that she could be ruthless, but this…" she spoke, shaking lightly her head.

"She is a warrior, through and through. And it's obvious she doesn't take kindly anyone trying to waylay her." Spoke Setsuna in a tight, clipped voice.

"Setsuna-mama?" spoke Hotaru timidly. "Why was she so sad and angry? Why did she had to hurt him like that?"

Her simple question brought the other senshi's attention back to her.

"Sad? Where did you saw sadness?!" replied angrily Rei. "She all but maimed that kid permanently!"

"You're wrong, Rei." Replied Usagi, lost in thought, and drawing the surprised looks of the rest of the senshi. "Yes, she was… brutal. But she didn't inflicted lasting harm on him, and she did it ONLY after trying to avoid the fight as much as she could. Only when he broke that locket, did she fight back." She explained. "And… considering what Setsuna told us about her, I think I can understand. Think guys:" she looked around, speaking. "From what Puu told us, she probably grew running from one place to another. That certainly did not leave much space for lasting friendships. Her whole world probably was around her parents. Now they're gone. And that moron all but destroyed one of her last memories of them. What would YOU do in her place?" she finished looking back at them.

The growing somber looks that replied were answer enough.

"What the Hell?!"

"Anything wrong Ami-chan?" asked a worried Makoto. Her shy friend weren't given to extremes of emotion, so when they happened, they usually signed something was the matter.

"If those data is correct," she said, looking at Setsuna, who nodded back. "this glowing staff of hers is an impossibility made form!"

"?"

"Simply put, it seems to be emitting BOTH Light and Dark power! At the SAME TIME!"

"And it's impossible, because?" replied Minako.

"Mina-chan, guys," started Ami. "What the scan read from that staff showed it, for lack of better term, both Divine and Demonic power flowing in it, at the same time. It should be impossible, guys! Its… like having matter and anti-matter coexisting without problem!" replied the teen genius awed.

Haruka and Mamoru, both engineering students, nodded worriedly, fully realizing the possible consequences.

"Hum… Ami-chan?" replied a soft voice. All eyes turned to its owner. Hotaru.

"Hai, Hotaru-chan?"

"Hum... not QUITE impossible, but very, VERY difficult."

"Ano, what do you mean? Something like that CAN actually be done?" she asked, the other senshi seconding her astonishment.

"Well, yes." The girl replied sheepishly.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because she has a similar artifact." Answered Setsuna.

In response to the questioning looks, the dark haired girl rose her hand, and a dark metallic polearm with a gleaming blade came into being. "The Silence Glaive uses both kinds of power. The Death Reborn Revolution taps into dark power. It was one of the reasons people feared me so much…" she spoke sadly. "Because of all the Senshi, I was the only one to wield the powers of the Dark." The Outer Senshi held onto the sad girl, giving her the support she needed.

"The only true difference," continued Setsuna. "is that the Glaive uses Light OR Dark power. It doesn't use both at the same time. I don't think that that staff is as powerful as the Glaive, but it's potentially much more versatile, especially using BOTH powers simultaneously."

The senshi trade looks, while pondering in that last discovery.

* * *

_Tokyo bay district, mid afternoon, on a series of warehouses…_

"Yes… hu hum… I see… Don't worry, I'll report to Sir Integra." Replied the elderly man on the phone. After putting it down, he rose, revealing a trim elderly gentleman, dressing black pants, a white long sleeved shirt, a red tie and black waistcoat. A monocle stood over his left eye, both of a dark gray shade, making a figure which clashed somewhat with the medium lustrous black ponytail. He walked through a corridor to a door and knocked.

At the 'Yes?', he opened and entered. "Sorry to disturb you Sir Integra," he spoke to the ash blonde on the long table. "but it seems that someone tried to access our records concerning the Akasei family. Our defenses stopped the intruder from getting anything more than the official open records, and we managed to track him down." He told her. "That is were things get odd: it seems that the IP address of the inquirer, which by the way, was protected rather heavily for a common person, belongs to a certain Nabiki Tendo, resident on the Nerima ward. I took the liberty of doing some research and found out that the ward has a long history of unusual 'incidents'. Given the oriental attitude concerning the paranormal, I believe it would be a good hiding place for FREAKs at the very least. Perhaps a more close look would be necessary?" he finished, placing a folder with the compiled information before her boss.

"Do it Walter." Replied the blonde with an icy glint in her eye

"M'Lady?" replied the old valet. "There is something else that raised a flag in our investigation."

Integra's left eyebrow raised. "Oh? What could it be?"

"As part of our investigation pattern, as you know, inquires were made about the properties and persons in the surrounding area." Walter exposed. "It seems that the back neighboring lot to this 'Tendo Dojo' belongs to the… Akasei family."

Integra looked, intrigued. "You mean that THEY are here, don't you Walter? And what would they be doing in Japan anyway?" she asked, more or less to herself.

"We're not sure yet Lady. I took the liberty to take this investigations into my own hands, and should have confirmation in the next 24 hours."

At Integra's nod, he bowed, and turned, leaving her to her thoughts.

_Could it be then?_ The blonde asked herself. _I'm not sure I like it. It seems TOO much of a coincidence to be good…_

* * *

AN1: I'm South-American (Brazilian, to be exact), so the concept of 'ward' and 'Prefecture' is a little strange to me. WE have Neighborhoods, States, Cities and some bigger and smaller political units depending on the (mostly) size of the territory for administration purposes. Like Tokyo, New York, Paris, and other megalopolis around the globe, we also had the so called Tokyo and 'Great' Tokyo, i.e., the union of the original city and the neighborhoods that grew into small semi-independent cities and/or small cities surrounding it that grew to mesh into one single gigantic urban sprawl. The Japanese have their wards (a concept, that, if I'm not mistaken, came from the feudal times, as a way of separating the cities into more easily defended units.) and Prefectures (ken). If you're asking the why of such ramblings, here it comes:

Recently, I had a chance to actually look into a full map of the wards and Prefectures of the Great Tokyo area. God Danmit! It's freaking HUGE! (Not to say, utterly confusing -!) If you take the time to do so, you'll realize that the Nerima ward mentioned by Takahashi-san is signed as Nerima-Ku, part of a Prefecture(?) ALSO named Nerima (Nerima-sho). Juuban, were our sailors fight, is named Juuban-sho, a part of the Minato-ku ward. I'm trying my best o put it into that story WITHOUT messing too much. Oh yeah. Both places are also quite a distance from one another (about a couple hours by train).

AN2: From now on, we'll be seeing our newcomer face some challenges. She may look like she's all perfect, but she most certainly isn't. Just one fact for the ones who took the time to review me, and for my readers: knowing something about yourself, working into accepting and dealing with it, by NO means make it any less scary. Hiko HAS issues, and as story goes, they WILL come forth.

Also, in my PERSONAL opinion, the boundaries of what is an 'acceptable' relationship are VERY flexible. The law isn't always right (if it was, it wouldn't have changed since the dawn of time, nor would every country have its ONW unique set of them.), and tradition, unlike what people think, DO change. LIFE is all about changing. So, for example, if some people like to wait till marriage before having sex, Ok. If they want to do it right now, more power to them. AS LONG AS IT IS DONE RESPONSABLY. As long as it is between consenting adults, people who know what they're doing and are willing to deal with the repercussions of their actions. As the story goes, I will be touching some subjects that are a bit sensitive to do. Some will reflect my opinions, others will be for drama sake. Before going flaming me outright, talk to me. I believe those who did will agree when I say that I'm quite amenable to a good talk. Criticism, when politely put and based, can only help. Flames for flames… thanks but no thanks.


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